I think this is very important. Again, when you allow one person to control so much of the media landscape of Canada, there has to be an issue of accountability, not just a corporate bottom line.
I asked Mr. Péladeau if there were orders coming down the chain. He said, “I didn't get your question.” I asked him if journalists were ordered to write specific kinds of articles. He said, “I don't know where [this is coming] from.”
I asked him, “Where is the level of interference within the newsrooms...? Who sends that message?” He said, “This is not a party. This is a business....”
I then asked, “Do you mean managing the newsroom? Journalists tell us they were ordered to write....” He said, “We have our accountability and a responsibility to our shareholders....”
Number 5, I asked him, “Are your journalists ordered to follow the party line?” He said, “I have nothing to answer to this.” I said, “Should the newsroom be separate from your other vertically integrated operations?” He said, “This is not a party. This is a business....”
And number 7, I asked if he had a firewall to protect his journalists from the corporate interests of Quebecor, and he said, “Our reporters...have their jobs to do, and no one will tell them what to write.”
Is Mr. Péladeau correct in saying there is a firewall protecting his journalists, or, as he said earlier, do they manage their business as a business and the journalists don't get to have a say?