Honorary professor at UdeM's Communications department and journalist.
Alain Saulnier has been a journalist for over thirty years. He has also devoted a large part of his career to campaigning for quality journalism in Quebec, both within press companies and within professional journalists' organizations. Thus, it was under his presidency of the Professional Federation of Journalists of Quebec (FPJQ) that the first Ethics Guide for the journalistic profession in Quebec was adopted.
After having been a journalist and producer on several television news programs, Alain Saulnier headed the radio news service of Radio-Canada from 1999, then all French news services (radio and TV) from 2006 to 2012. As director general, he proposed to Radio-Canada's information department a vision focusing on investigative journalism, which helped to lift the veil on scandals in the construction industry in Quebec, on corruption, on the hidden financing of political parties and other important subjects. It was under his direction that the show Enquête was created.
After being removed from the general direction of information by the senior management of Radio-Canada in 2012, Alain Saulnier taught journalism at the University of Montreal for the DESS program in journalism until December 2022. He is today honorary professor of the communications department. In September 2013, he also became executive producer of the show Arrêt sur le monde, produced by CÉRIUM and broadcast on Canal savoir/Savoir Média.
In November 2014, he published Ici ÉTAIT Radio-Canada with Éditions Boréal, a book that had a significant impact on the future of the public broadcaster. An English edition, Losing our voice, Radio-Canada under siege, was published in 2015. He has also contributed to several collective works on journalism.
Alongside teaching, since 2012, he has contributed to reflection on culture in the digital universe with the organization Culture Montréal. He was a member of its board of directors until 2019. In 2017, he also co-chaired the Digital Commission of the same organization which brought together all cultural stakeholders in the greater Montreal region to address the challenges digital and encourage digital creativity.
He also headed content at the journalism magazine Le Trente from 2015 to 2017.
In February 2022, he published Les Barbares numériques. Résister à l’invasion des GAFAM chez écosociété.
Alain Saulnier is a recognized expert and commentator in the fields of journalism and media for several programs and publications in Quebec. He has given numerous conferences on culture and media in the digital age. He is currently involved in the organization for the University of Montreal (CRDP, Cérium Pôle Médias des HEC) of a two-day conference which will take place in April 2024, “Cultural sovereignty and digital giants. Crossed perspectives Canada, France, Belgium, Quebec »