One Journalist’s Career: Paule Vermot-Desroches

Other people have dreams of becoming a journalist. In my case, journalism found me. In 2001, shortly after I graduated from Collège Laflèche, I was offered an internship at Le Nouvelliste. I accepted out of curiosity… and then never looked back.

Special issue of Le Nouvelliste, published in 2003 to mark the expansion of Collège Laflèche

For the next 19 years, I travelled the roads of the Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie regions. I met a mix of ordinary residents and leading figures. And I tried to understand the issues, to assess people’s strengths and weaknesses. I showcased success stories and lamented failures. I learned in a way I never could have at school, by doing a job that was as stimulating as it was enriching.

Investigative report by Paule Vermot-Desroches on local reaction to the closure of the Gentilly-2 Nuclear Generating Station

In 2020, I had the opportunity to start writing an opinion column. But despite all my experience and credentials, I found myself suffering from impostor syndrome. Why me? Why should my opinion, my analysis, my vision of the world be showcased instead of someone else’s? But the support and confidence expressed by my team and especially by upper management convinced me to give it a go.

Thankfully, other Mauricie women had already blazed a trail for me to follow in opinion journalism. In particular, Ginette Gagon was working as the newspaper’s editorial writer when I first arrived, and I learned a lot from her.

Article by Paule Vermot-Desroches on the rise of toxic masculinity in secondary schools

I have been fortunate enough to have never felt being a woman to be an obstacle. Still, I am committed to using my platform to condemn instances where women, whatever their field of work, are still being told to “go back to the kitchen.” Because unfortunately, that still happens…

Sharing my opinions while analyzing the day’s news with a critical eye is no easy task. But it’s essential in a democratic society, where a wide range of opinions need to be heard. That’s how a democracy matures, renews itself, improves and become stronger.