Almost 15 years after leaving the helm of the news broadcast, Bernard Derome is still passionate about his job, which he has practiced for over 40 years and which, in fact, he has never really left. This month’s Press and Media Weeks spokesperson takes it upon himself to defend the work of journalists who he says are too often abused these days.

Bernard Derome is against this anti-media populist discourse, which was brought to Canada by Pierre Poilievre, among others. The Conservative leader has a stormy relationship with the parliamentary press and has developed a dislike for the public broadcaster, which enrages Bernard Derome. When he talks about it, the former host’s soothing voice immediately steps up a notch to hit a register viewers don’t know him about.

I don’t think he does [Pierre Poilievre] goes so far as not to privatize either CBC or Radio-Canada if he ever becomes prime minister

“Coming from someone aspiring to be Prime Minister of Canada is irresponsible, it’s contempt! Contempt for the intelligentsia, for democracy. This is very serious. Even if its publications on cryptocurrency were not strong, it is even worse there. It’s going to stay with him,” says Bernard Derome, who doesn’t get angry and isn’t used to relinquishing the duty of restraint he’s tried to respect throughout his prolific career.

However, from his arrival at Radio-Canada in 1965 until his departure in 2008, Bernard Derome often heard harsh criticism of the public broadcaster. Pierre Elliott Trudeau spoke of a “nest of separatists”. Stephen Harper also cultivated a certain dislike for CBC/Radio-Canada, which he cut funding by 10% in three years. Cuts that followed those made under Jean Chrétien, the largest in the history of the Crown group.

However, Bernard Derome notes that distrust of CBC/Radio-Canada had never reached such levels in Canadian politics prior to the arrival of Pierre Poilievre at the head of the Conservative Party. Keep in mind 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 disgusting and unhealthy because of the suspicion it creates in Radio-Canada. But to be honest, I don’t think he would go so far as not to privatize either CBC or Radio-Canada if he were ever to become prime minister. If he did, there would be an incredible outcry,” adds Bernard Derome more calmly, who therefore picks up the soothing voice we know him, the one that surrounded Quebecers at 10 p.m. sharp for more than 30 years.

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Bernard Derome remains deeply attached to the institution where he spent most of his career. He’s not one to give in to nostalgia. The former headliner prefers to pay tribute to the work of Radio-Canada’s journalists, who, despite the cuts of recent decades, have been particularly impressed with the quality of their coverage of international issues.

However, he sees the management more critically. The former moderator of news broadcast was among the signatories to an open letter last summer begging Crown Corporation not to apologize after the Canadian Radio, Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) accused the use of the “N-word” in a column in which the title of the book was mentioned by Pierre Vallières. However, the public broadcaster eventually apologized and appealed the CRTC’s decision.

“We shouldn’t have apologized. Management went to their knees […] The N-Word, what should I tell you? You have to call a spade a spade. Yes, there is respect, but there are journalistic standards. Reality must be taken into account. That’s what they say, the book,” stresses Bernard Derome, who says he occasionally sees a certain confusion on the air between journalism and activism.

Both are incompatible for him. He is also outraged that Crown Corporation President and CEO Catherine Tait has invited journalists to take part in a march to commemorate the victims of Aboriginal boarding schools. “I hope it’s an oversight on his part, because it’s unimaginable! he adds, pointing to a cultural difference between CBC and Radio-Canada.

The importance of news

Those who turn 80 next year have lost none of their enthusiasm and insatiable curiosity. He still follows the news avidly and can speak bluntly with the same erudition about the death of Gordon Lightfoot or the civil war in Sudan. Admittedly, however, this monument of information is a little overwhelmed by the social networks that have imposed frenzied, not to say hellish, speed on newsrooms.

He is fortunate to have retired in 2008, just before Facebook and Twitter completely changed the game. At that time, The telejournal 10pm would remain a reference. But since then, this meeting has lost its luster, he laments. In the age of TV news and social networks, where we are bombarded with information at all times of the day, has television news become anachronistic? On the contrary, counters 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. Nowadays people get notifications on their phones and tablets. They know what is happening, but they are not informed. It’s not true that it’s the same. You still have to make a little effort to find out more,” he says, and invites the public to take a closer look at the work of journalists.

To demystify the reality of journalists who The liaison center for educational and information media organizes press and media weeks, whose spokesman is Bernard Derome. Various activities will be organized throughout Quebec until the end of May.

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