After 40 years at Radio-Canada, host Marie-José Turcotte hangs up her microphone.
Posted at 8:55 a.m.
Updated at 9:43 a.m.
Turcotte thus puts an end to a great career during which she will have won numerous distinctions.
In 1985, she became the first female sports reporter on television here. Three years later, she became the first to host a sports program in Quebec.
Over the years, Marie-José Turcotte has written numerous reports and hosted a wide variety of programs covering national and international competitions. The public generally associates her with the Olympic and Paralympic Games, of which she covered 17 editions, 15 of which as news anchor.
Turcotte left the industry with 15 Gémeaux awards, the title of Immortal of Television awarded by the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television as well as the René-Lecavalier journalism award, among others. She was also named Woman of the Year in Communications by the YWCA Foundation and Most Influential Woman of the Year by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity.
The host also became a member of the Order of Canada in 2014 for helping open the doors of journalism to women and for promoting women’s sport throughout her career.
“At Radio-Canada, as elsewhere, women occupy an ever-increasing role in sports coverage on TV,” said Radio-Canada Senior Vice-President Michel Bissonnette. Both through her passion and through the excellence of her work, year after year, Marie-José Turcotte has been the spearhead of this evolution and an inspiration for generations of communicators. I thank her warmly for her exemplary career at Radio-Canada. »
Turcotte will officially conclude his career on the air with the animation of the Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, the last program of which will be broadcast this Sunday, at 3 p.m., on Ici Télé.
