An emblematic figure of Radio-Canada for 40 years, Marie-José Turcotte officially said goodbye to the small screen last week. If more and more women journalists comment and cover sports today, it is thanks to this pioneer who knew how to carve out a place for herself in a male environment, by breaking down doors, which remained open for the following ones.
“I did this job above all because I liked it, I was going for it without asking myself too many questions. It was over the years that I realized that I was a bit alone in my group, the only woman. […] I can conceive with hindsight that I could have been a kind of pioneer, but I never did it just to become one,” explains Marie-José Turcotte in an interview, most humbly in the world.
However, his journey speaks for itself. After cutting her teeth on the morning radio show in Edmonton for the public broadcaster, she returned to Montreal three years later, in 1985, to become the first female sports reporter on local television.
The one who initially dreamed of being a political journalist or international correspondent took her ease in the sports sector. She thus became the first woman to host a sports program in Quebec, The world of sportsin 1988. A post that also led her to cover 17 Olympic Games.
No room for error
“As much as I didn’t want to put the burden on my shoulders to be the first, I was well aware that, if I messed up, it wouldn’t be good for the other women afterwards. That was clear in my head, ”she admits.
She says she had to “do more” when she started out, to stand out and prove herself in this male environment. “I knew I had to know what I was talking about. I worked hard, I did a lot of research. I would never have presented myself to do a show without knowing all what you need to know about a sport to cover. If I hadn’t mastered my subject at my fingertips, it wouldn’t have happened. »
She felt that, because she was a woman, she had even less room for error. She would otherwise have certainly received a wave of criticism from her peers, while a male counterpart would have been quickly excused.
The journalist was also well aware that she “disturbed”, that some did not agree with the fact that a woman covered sports, that it was not her place.
“Unconsciously or not, I put on blinkers,” she says. I didn’t want to know what they were saying, I didn’t want to have to carry this negative side. […] To dwell on these comments was to waste my energy, to hurt myself unnecessarily. »
She also considers herself “privileged” to have been able to “last” so long on television. A bet that was not won in advance, according to the one who had taken the habit of never taking anything for granted. “I controlled the end that I could control, that is to say, do my job well, push my ideas, go all the way. But I also depended on my bosswho could have gotten tired of my mouth, wanting to give another image”, she argues, grateful to have been able to count on the confidence and support of her superiors.
Far from parity
At the time of the balance sheets, she is delighted to have seen her environment evolve, slowly but surely, to leave more room for women. She gives as an example the last Summer Olympics in Tokyo, during which there were almost as many women as men among the descriptors and analysts present for Radio-Canada.
But we must not delude ourselves, she warns, we are still far from gender equality. “It’s still a man’s world,” she laments. The problem with sports coverage is that it takes a long time to change and professional sport is still very masculine. […] Quietly, there are steps that are taken, but it’s long. »