Were There Women Journalists at Le Nouvelliste in 1981?
Interview with Louise Plante and Paule Vermot-Desroches (Reporters at Le Nouvelliste)
Clip duration: 1 min 15 s
From the collection of Appartenance Mauricie Société d’histoire régionale.
Louise Plante is a retired journalist who worked at Le Nouvelliste. Paule Vermot Desroches is currently a reporter at the same newspaper. In this clip, they discuss the first women journalists to work at Le Nouvelliste.
Louise Plante: When I arrived, there were only three: Michelle Roy, Doris Hamel and Ginette Gagnon. And with Ginette, you could start to see a new generation emerging. As for those who thought we were only interested in the women’s page, well, that wasn’t entirely untrue.
Paule Vermot-Desroches: It had been the case in the past.
Louise Plante: It really had been the case in the past.
Paule Vermot-Desroches: Well, yeah.
Louise Plante: But in terms of… I remember that Ginette Gagnon had covered a police commission and, well, you need to be damn sure of yourself to cover that sort of thing. Let’s be honest, there was a lot of what you could call intimidation. You know, journalists needed to be able to stand up to all sorts of people who wouldn’t be happy with what was printed in the newspaper the next morning. And there would be several days of that. So there’s that. I remember those three women being on staff when I arrived. And things really got rolling after I was hired. Honestly, at Le Nouvelliste, there were no barriers to hiring women. I’m proud to say that. It’s true, you know. The owners were very open-minded. I’m not saying there weren’t any issues with sexism and that sort of thing, but…
Paule Vermot-Desroches: Well, those problems exist in every field.
Louise Plante: They exist in every field, you’re right.