The convoy of truckers, the Olympic Games, the war in Ukraine, the outbreak of inflation, the election campaign in Quebec, the Soccer World Cup: the artisans of The Press returned on Wednesday evening to this special year in which many major local and international events culminated.
“The year 2022, we may forget in the constant flood of news, was an exceptional year in terms of major events”, declared the vice-president and assistant publisher, François Cardinal, at the opening of the evening 2022 seen by The Pressbroadcast online, but also in front of the public for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event opened with a panel about the last election campaign in Quebec, during which five journalists had been delegated in as many buses, a first.
“It’s a precious chance, every day you have access to a politician who wants to govern Quebec. It’s a test for leaders to get through this. I don’t see how we could cover the campaign without that, ”said political columnist Paul Journet, alongside the editorialist in chief, Stéphanie Grammond, and the head of the Quebec parliamentary office, Tommy Chouinard.
Controversies and Sources
Columnists Patrick Lagacé, Hugo Dumas and Chantal Guy then addressed the controversies that shook the world of culture in Quebec. “I slept well, but I hated it. Because you have someone’s life in your hands, ”said Patrick Lagacé about his investigation into the allegations of several women against comedian Philippe Bond.
Then investigative journalists Vincent Larouche, Ariane Lacoursière and Mayssah Ferah came to talk to the audience about their methods for protecting their sources, an “essential” aspect of their work. “I got into the habit of giving nicknames to all my sources on my cell phone. The problem is that sometimes I don’t remember, maybe because of age, ”joked their colleague Daniel Renaud.
Personal finance and consumer finance columnist Marie-Eve Fournier then revealed where her inexhaustible source of topics came from. “Most of my topics, I find them in my mailbox. Without my readers, I can’t know that it takes six months to get a first employment insurance check or five hours to reach customer service at your bank. »
“Make you a head”
Cartoonist Serge Chapleau took over by reviewing his best cartoons of the year, interspersed with a few jokes.
The editorialist Philippe Mercure returned to his great report The invisible epidemic about the opioid overdose crisis in Quebec. “Is what’s going on out West like that here?” I had lots of questions, ”he explained about the genesis of the project on which he worked for several months.
Covering the Beijing Olympics was the most difficult of his career, sports columnist Alexandre Pratt said, due to severe restrictions due to COVID-19. “I did not go to Beijing, I went to the Olympic Games”, summed up, at his side, the columnist Yves Boisvert. “It was a demonstration of China’s sanitary superiority. »
Alongside his co-host, collaborator Rose-Aimée Automne T. Morin, François Cardinal closed the evening with a thank you to the donors of The Press. “That’s precisely what your donations are used for, to do this great journalism”, adding that “it’s for you that we do this, so that you are as informed as possible, so that you can make your face on the major issues that affect you.