To mark five years of the #MoiAussi (#MeToo) movement, The duty offers a series of texts showing the path taken or drawing up an inventory in different cultural sectors.
By publishing in October 2017 their investigations into accusations of sexual harassment against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, the New York Times and the New Yorker have not only given momentum to the #MeToo movement, but also paved the way for a series of journalistic investigations into sexual violence, once difficult to carry out.
Five years later, the media have taken giant leaps forward, but this rapid learning curve has not been without its hitches.
“It was the first time that we collected the testimonies of several victims denouncing the same attacker. [Ces journaux] established a standard, a roadmap for the other stories [en matière d’agressions sexuelles] “, explains the journalist of The Press Katia Gagnon, who was at the time head of the Investigation section of the daily.
About ten days later, she published with the journalist Stéphanie Vallet – today at To have to — the first investigation stemming from the #MeToo movement in Quebec, reporting the sexual misconduct alleged against ousted producer and host Éric Salvail.
Testimonials and a pattern
Prior to 2017, it usually required a complaint to the courts to report a story involving sexual violence. Without witnesses to corroborate the facts – these gestures often occurring in a private setting – the journalists found themselves with the word of the victim against that of his alleged attacker, without being able to confirm one or the other of the versions.
The investigations of New York Times and New Yorker have thus shown that with several victims denouncing similar behavior, it is possible to corroborate testimonies by establishing a “ pattern “.
In this respect, #MeToo has given journalists a helping hand: by freeing women to speak on social networks, it has enabled them to find several victims of the same attacker. “It changed everything for us in Éric Salvail’s investigation,” says Katia Gagnon. We worked on it in 2014, but no one wanted to talk to us, people were afraid of ending up on a black list. […] In 2017, the context changed, people were ready to talk, although many remained anonymous. »
Journalist and host Monic Néron found herself in the same situation in 2017, when she was still working at 98.5FM. She had been interested for a few years already in rumors that were circulating about the founder of Just for Laughs, Gilbert Rozon, but no one wanted to talk to her for fear of being banned from the milieu.
When the hashtag #MeToo swept the Web, several women spoke up to denounce it, which made it possible to reopen the investigation. In all, ten women finally agreed to tell their story to Monic Néron and his colleague at the time Émilie Perreault, as well as to the journalist from To have to Améli Pineda, who published a joint investigation in the daily.
The 98.5 then had no “investigative structure”, underlines Monic Néron, but “no one could remain insensitive to the power and the probative value” of the testimonies collected.
Before, it ended in news items and we moved on the next day. Today, we make room for denunciations, trials, reports that directly or indirectly affect sexual violence. We do follow-ups years later, we follow the political circles, we don’t let go.
Monic Néron also sees a “before” and an “after” in the importance given to sexual violence in media coverage. “Before, it ended in news items and we moved on to something else the next day. Today, we make room for denunciations, trials, reports that directly or indirectly affect sexual violence. We do follow-ups years later, we follow the political circles, we don’t let go. »
A work still misunderstood
Since Éric Salvail and Gilbert Rozon, other big names have fallen in Quebec following journalistic investigations. It’s that #MeToo has generated the need for survivors to speak out, to denounce behavior that has been tolerated for too long in society.
Monic Néron and Katia Gagnon say they received countless testimonials in their email inbox after their investigations. “Many have tried to turn to the legal system without being able to be heard, so suddenly they realized that they could publicize their story to change things”, underlines Monic Néron.
The problem is that journalists cannot simply be the mouthpiece of these denunciations. They must investigate, that is to say, collect testimonies, find other presumed victims, carry out checks, collect evidence, cross-examine the presumed aggressor.
A process still poorly understood by the population, note the two journalists. Several people criticized them for not having spoken about a denunciation published on Instagram, some did not understand why their story could not be publicized and felt rejected, others find that the process is too slow.
The Vice President of Legal Affairs of The PressMe Patrick Bourbeau, recalls that there are legal issues with the publication of such investigations, since the victims and the media are never safe from lawsuits for defamation. Moreover, since the impact “may be devastating on the reputation of the person concerned”, it is essential to be extra careful and rigorous in the journalistic approach.
“Unfortunately, the miracle recipe does not exist, each case being unique,” he concedes. It is the public interest of the story, the strength and the multiplication of the testimonies as well as their corroboration which will be decisive.
“The role of the media is to reveal information of public interest to the public,” he adds. Our role is not to protect the alleged aggressors nor to be a combat diary that serves as a transmission belt for the alleged victims, without any verification work. »
The media are not “vigilantes” either, adds the editor-in-chief of the To have to, Marie-Andrée Chouinard. “We are not here to replace the court. To obtain reparation, conviction, there is justice and the police”, she continues, regretting that journalistic work has sometimes fed the “people’s court”.
Despite the many questions that have suddenly arisen in journalistic practice, the media have come a long way since the emergence of #MeToo, according to her. Their work has been “impactful”, it has changed society and has not finished doing so.