Almost 15 years after leaving the helm of the Newscast, Bernard Derome is still passionate about the job he practiced for more than 40 years, and which he basically never really left. The one who is spokesperson this month for the Weeks of the press and the media makes it a point of honor to defend the work of journalists, who are too often abused these days, in his opinion.
Bernard Derome is against this populist discourse, openly hostile to the media, brought to Canada by Pierre Poilievre among others. The Conservative leader has a stormy relationship with the parliamentary press and has taken a dislike to the public broadcaster, which infuriates Bernard Derome. When he talks about it, the reassuring voice of the former anchor immediately climbs a notch to reach a register that viewers do not know him.
I don’t think he [Pierre Poilievre] goes so far as to privatize, neither CBC nor Radio-Canada, if ever he were to become prime minister
“Coming from someone who aspires to become Prime Minister of Canada, it’s irresponsible, it’s contempt! Contempt for intelligence, for democracy. This is very serious. Already that his releases on cryptocurrency, it was not strong, there, it is even worse. It will stay with him, ”says Bernard Derome, who does not get angry, and who is not used to leaving the duty of reserve that he has tried to respect throughout his prolific career.
From his arrival at Radio-Canada in 1965 until his departure in 2008, Bernard Derome nonetheless heard criticism, often very harsh, of the public broadcaster. Pierre Elliott Trudeau spoke of it as a “nest of separatists”. Stephen Harper also cultivated a certain aversion to CBC/Radio-Canada, whose funding he cut by 10% in three years. Cuts that followed those made under Jean Chrétien, the largest in the history of the Crown corporation.
However, Bernard Derome notes that distrust of CBC/Radio-Canada had never reached such a level in Canadian politics before the arrival of Pierre Poilievre at the head of the Conservative Party. Remember that the latter promises to privatize the CBC, but remains more evasive about the fate he intends to reserve for Radio-Canada.
“I find it very revolting and unhealthy, for the climate of suspicion against Radio-Canada that it creates. But honestly, I don’t think he would go so far as to privatize, neither CBC nor Radio-Canada, if ever he were to become Prime Minister. If he did that, there would be an incredible outcry, ”adds more calmly Bernard Derome, who therefore takes up the soothing voice that we know him, the one that surrounded Quebecers for more than 30 years at the stroke of 10 p.m. .
Derivative
Bernard Derome remains deeply attached to the institution where he spent most of his career. He is not one of those who give in to nostalgia. The former headliner prefers to salute the work of Radio-Canada journalists, particularly impressed by the quality of their coverage of international issues, despite the cuts of recent decades.
He is more critical, however, of senior management. The former presenter of Newscast was among the signatories of an open letter last summer imploring the crown corporation not to apologize after the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) blamed the use of the ‘n-word’ in a column that mentioned the title of the book by Pierre Vallières. However, the public broadcaster finally apologized, while appealing the CRTC’s decision.
“We shouldn’t have apologized. Management got down on their knees […] The n-word, what do you want me to tell you? You have to call a spade a spade. Yes, there is respect, but there are journalistic standards. Reality has to be taken into account. That’s always what it’s called, the book, ”underlines Bernard Derome, who says he observes on the air a certain confusion between journalism and activism on occasion.
For him, the two are irreconcilable. He is also indignant that the president and CEO of the Crown corporation, Catherine Tait, invited journalists to participate in a march in memory of the victims of residential schools for Aboriginals. “I hope it’s an oversight on his part, because it’s inconceivable! he adds, referring to a cultural difference between CBC and Radio-Canada.
The importance of news
The one who will be 80 next year has lost none of his enthusiasm or his insatiable curiosity. He still follows the news assiduously, and can talk point-blank about the death of Gordon Lightfoot or the civil war in Sudan with the same erudition. This monument of information admits to being a little overwhelmed, however, by social networks, which have imposed a frantic, not to say infernal, speed in newsrooms.
He considers himself lucky to have retired in 2008, just before Facebook and Twitter completely changed the game. At the time, The Telejournal 10 p.m. would remain a reference. But since then, this meeting has lost its luster, he laments. In the era of television news and social networks, when we are bombarded with information at all hours of the day, have television news become anachronistic? On the contrary, retorts Bernard Derome.
“Getting information à la carte, taking what interests us, that’s one thing. But I think we still need an appointment to get an overview of what is happening on the planet. Today, people receive alerts on their phones and on their tablets. They are aware of what is happening, but they are not informed. It is not true that it is the same thing. To get informed, you still have to make a little effort”, he maintains, inviting the population to take a closer interest in the work of journalists.
To demystify the reality of journalists, the Education and Information Media Liaison Center organizes Press and Media Weeks, of which Bernard Derome is the spokesperson. Until the end of May, various activities will be organized throughout Quebec.