If you are going to talk shop with the editor of Direction Informatique, you’d better be ready to back up your opinions with a few facts.
Dominique Lemoine may appear soft spoken in casual conversation, but if the discussion turns to the current state of journalism, the Trois-Rivieres native gets energized.
“Good journalism isn’t just what I do by day, it’s what I study at night. I’m pretty consumed by it, and that makes me passionate about it,” he says.
Lemoine is one-third of the way through his PhD in media studies with his thesis focused on ingrained patriotism in news-making and the role of the media in reporting international conflicts.
That’s a pretty deep dive, but perhaps not surprising given his BA in international studies, his classical journalism training at Université Laval’s and his focus on business and economic writing at a number of dailies, weeklies and for websites.
Laughing at the suggestion “he must be a tech geek” if he edits Quebec’s longest-running technology-focused media enterprise, the 34-year-old says he enjoys board games and has fewer apps on his phone than his father, who is twice his age. He sees technology as neither threatening nor especially comforting, but is often surprised at how a technology tool designed for one purpose will morph unexpectedly into something else.
After a busy week rushing around downtown Montreal, he said on weekends he likes to go with his family to their country house to play cards and enjoy a little hockey at the village ice rink. As the easy winner of the company’s recent billiards competition, his colleagues are left wondering if perhaps there’s not a pool table at that country retreat as well.