The revelations of Montreal Campus according to which UQAM journalism professor Patrick White signed sponsored articles on his blog, some of which referred to online casino and escort sites, had the effect of a bomb in the Quebec journalistic community . Students now believe that the university should review its recruitment protocols and its teaching of ethics.
“Patrick White has been running this blog for almost twenty years. How come we didn’t realize these practices before? There is a mea culpa to do on that side,” says Jean-Hugues Roy, professor of journalism at UQAM. Mr. Roy will replace Mr. White as head of the journalism program, while the latter has obtained unpaid leave for the year 2024.
The man who had taught journalism at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) since 2019 was nevertheless considered a leading figure in the media world. Former journalist and executive at The Canadian Press, the Reuters agency and the Quebec Journal and founder of HuffPost Quebeche regularly commented on current events on several forums.
However, on Thursday, the UQAM student newspaper, the Montreal Campusrevealed that Mr. White has authored at least 113 sponsored articles on his site patwhite.com — a practice that contravenes the regulations of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ). Around sixty of these articles led to online gaming sites. A Ukrainian escort dating site and a homework plagiarism service site were also referenced on other pages.
” Conflict of interest ”
Although these texts were identified as “branded content,” that is, sponsored advertising content in the form of articles, several of them were accompanied by a photo of Mr. White, or directly signed in his name, which made them resemble journalistic texts.
On Monday, the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ) suspended Patrick White’s associate membership card. She will decide in January whether to revoke it. For its part, the Press Gallery of the National Assembly, which counted him among its honorary members, will make a decision on his status at the next meeting of its board of directors, confirmed its president, Olivier Bossé.
“The facts that have been exposed are quite disturbing,” says Éric-Pierre Champagne, president of the FPJQ. Not only has Mr. White signed advertising texts, which places him in a conflict of interest, but he also trains the journalists of tomorrow. […] We will still wait to see the explanations he will give before making a final decision. »
On Friday morning, Mr. White wrote on his Facebook page that he acknowledges that he “made a mistake in accepting sponsored links on the site.” “I should never have associated my name and image with it. […] I regret it today, I take full responsibility for it and the site is now permanently closed. »
“Discomfort” at UQAM
Gabrielle Fallu, a journalism student at UQAM, co-signed the article in Montreal Campus which shed light on the professor’s practices. She received dozens of reactions from dismayed readers. “There is definitely unease among students,” she said, about the idea of Mr. White continuing to teach.
The latter will have to make a decision about his professional future during his leave. Jean-Hugues Roy did not want to comment on this matter. He recognizes, however, that “the practices that were exposed contravene the codes of ethics that are taught to students.”
William Gemme, journalism student at UQAM and communications manager for his student association, says the news was received like “a shock wave.” Whether Patrick White remains in office or not, “there is a loss of confidence in him. If he returns, he will have to speak openly to students and rebuild his credibility. »
The student calls on the university, on behalf of his association, to review its recruitment protocols and its teaching of ethics, in order to “ensure that professors are as competent as possible”. “We already have a course on ethics, but we could perhaps go deeper [la question des contenus publicitaires] and study it with concrete examples like this. »
Jean-Hugues Roy maintains that the university will “probably” have to review its hiring practices in light of these events. “I was in charge of the program when he was recruited. We did certain checks, but we also trusted him. »
Jenny Desrochers, director of the press relations division at UQAM, specifies “that a hiring committee formed by the department or school is specifically mandated to make an in-depth evaluation of the applications.” “An internal investigation is underway” and “concrete measures have been taken in response to this situation,” she adds, without specifying which ones.