After nearly 50 years at Radio-Canada, journalist and host Michel Lacombe is retiring. Maxime Coutié discusses with him the highlights of his long career.
According to Michel Lacombe, a journalist is “a servant of people who act or have thoughts. And it is an extraordinary role in society, it is a key delivery role ”.
Many politicians were afraid of interviews with Michel Lacombe during his career, but he has calmed down in recent years by conducting “kind interviews with people. [il] felt that they should be recognized by the population ”on the show The 21e.
Someone with a culture
Michel Lacombe’s professional life could change. During his studies, he acted as a manager and actor: “I was not a very good actor. I was missing something and the quickest tease for me was the presentation. A few years later, he realized that the economic realities of the theater business were pretty harsh.
He then became interested in journalism and explored this world in Chicoutimi for a summer. After staying in Toronto for Radio-Canada and TVA in Montreal, he joined Radio-Canada in the same city and learned the job of a journalist “on the job”. He also advised future journalists to study law, sociology, literature or philosophy, and read “complex books and explain them in [leurs] friends”.
In 1976, Michel Lacombe was a parliamentary correspondent in Quebec, where he occupied, among other things, René Lévesque’s Parti Québécois. “Bars buzz with political discussions until 3 am every night,” he said. He had the front seats to cover the 1980 referendum.
An insight into journalism
For Michel Lacombe, the objectivity of journalism is “a trap. There is no objection. Everyone has a point of view”, but he believes in objectivity.
” We, as journalists, need to encourage people to be curious, who want to have more understanding in order to be independent. “
In this age of social media and fake news, Michel Lacombe firmly believes that journalists are “enthusiastic [leur] meaning of [leur] business, to process information by verifying it. “
“I believed and I still believe in this work, hard as iron,” Michel Lacombe said after all these years.
Source: Radio-Canada
