Defining a “journalist” is always difficult. However, when I talk about journalists, I see them as reporters who verify facts, who present the public with those facts, explain them and make them accessible. That's what journalists do. It has nothing to do with giving one's opinion.
This does not come as a surprise; I have said it publicly in a number of forums. As I see it, there are too many opinion pieces in our media and I have no problem saying so, even though I am president of the Fédération professionnelle des journalistes du Québec and I work at La Presse. Above all, I want to represent journalists and reporters; that is what's important to me. The public does not want to be told what to think. They want to be given the facts, they want a clear picture of an increasingly complex world. As I see it, that's what journalists do and that's what journalism is.