Edwy Plenel

Edwy Plenel , of its complete name Herve Edwy Plenel , is a political Journaliste French, born the August 31st 1952 with Nantes (Loire-Atlantique). He was the director of the drafting of the daily newspaper Le Monde of 1996 until his voluntary resignation in November 2004. In dissension with the orientations taken by the newspaper and the group directed at the time by Jean-Marie Colombani and Alain Minc, it leaves Le Monde on October 31st, 2005 after having worked there during twenty-five years.

Biography

Wire of the vice-rector of the Martinique Alain Plénel, known for his humanistic engagements and anticolonialists, it passes the essence of its childhood in this island of the the Caribbean, which it leaves in 1962. After a stage in Paris region, he lives as from 1965 in Algeria, finishes in Algiers his schooling and begins his academic works there.

Of return in France and arrived at Paris in 1970, it joined the Communist revolutionary league and in 1976 he is journalist in the weekly magazine of the LCR Rouge which becomes daily for one short period. After its military service, it moves away from the LCR and enters to the Monde in 1980. Its book Secrets of youth (2001) reconsiders a militant youth that it forever disavowed.

Initially specialist with the World in the questions in education, it pointed out there, as from 1982, by its investigations, while ensuring the heading “organizes” daily newspaper. Its revelations on the majority of the businesses of the presidency of François Mitterrand will make a figure of independent and critical journalism of it. This independence will be worth to him many enmities and much of adversity. Until 1994, that is to say during about fifteen years, it works with the variation of the Parisian journalistic world, as a recluse or tandem - primarily with Bertrand the Son-in-law, then Georges Marion. The election of Jean-Marie Colombani to the head of the World which, at the time, was simply a newspaper and not an press group, will bring it, in spite of its reserves, to accept responsibilities. Principal organizer of the new formula of the World left in 1995, he becomes director of the drafting in 1996. Until 2003, under its direction, the sales of the daily newspaper will not cease increasing, hoisting Le Monde on a level which it had never reached since its creation in 1944, that of first national daily newspaper general practitioner, in front of Le Figaro . Until the violent polemics and the long caused crisis, at the beginning of 2003, by the publication of a book with load against the leading orientations that it incarnated, the general opinion greeted the dynamism, the originality and the independence of its leading direction. Since, a kind of “black legend” settled which, all at the same time, the mythifie and the démonise. It evokes it in the foreword of its Chroniques marranes (2007), under the title “Self-portrait”. He announced in November 2007 a new project of participative media of quality on Internet, Mediapart.

Edwy Plenel is one of the personalities victim of the wiretappings of the Elysium in the years 1980. Plenel was put on listening because of its investigations into the cell known as antiterrorist of the Elysium, in particular its implication in the revealing of the business of the Irish of Vincennes. Listening was prolonged in 1985 during the business Greenpeace to know its sources whereas its revelations caused the resignation of the Minister for defense, Charles Hernu, and of the chief of the secret services, the Admiral Pierre Lacoste. Continued in front of justice, the collaborators concerned of François Mitterrand pretexted of a Soviet business of espionage, the Farewell file, to justify this listening, not hesitating to affirm that the ex- Trotskiste Plenel worked for the CIA.

This calumny was taken again without any distance nor precaution by certain journalists defenders of Mitterrand. The judgment given in 2005 by XVIe room of the magistrates' court of Paris explicitly swept it and condemned to suspended sentences the four persons in charge of the cell of the Elysium to have put on Plenel listening. They did not make call of this judgment. At the conclusion of this lawsuit, Plenel gathered in a volume its three books on the presidency of Mitterrand ( the share of shade , a filthy weather , and the stolen words ), by adding to it an analysis of the lawsuit of listenings ( the journalist and the president , 2006).

If it kept an image of independent journalist having held head in Mitterrand, Plenel was sometimes shown of authoritarianism in its management of the drafting of the Monde . The end of its career to the direction of the drafting of the Monde was precipitated by the charges of Pierre Péan and Philippe Cohen in the book the Hidden side of the World, of the countervailing power to the abuses of power (Thousand-and-a nights, 2003). Disputing this indictment, which he considers sown of inaccuracies or calumnies, Plenel was explained in Procès (2006) where he returns at the same time on this book which he describes as “leading attack”, on its design of the journalistic profession, its professional engagement with the Monde and on its divergences with “leader truths” of this newspaper which were, according to him, Colombani and Minc.

Plenel published more than one ten works, of which the effect Le Pen (in collaboration, 1984), the unfinished Republic subtitle the State and the school in France (1985), Secrets of youth (2001), which was distinguished by the Prix Médicis test, and the discovery of the world (2002).

After having animated on LCI the emission Le Monde of the ideas , Plenel presents to it since the end 2005 another weekly emission on the books, Between quotation marks . Since its departure of the World , it holds also a weekly chronicle on France Culture ( Creepage distance ) as well as a semi-monthly chronicle, then monthly in the Belgian daily newspaper the Evening ( France seen of outwards , then Outwards ). In its comments of the French presidential election of 2007, it was a pitiless critic of Nicolas Sarkozy. It was besides the first to be used in the media, in connection with the president lately elected, the expression of “hyperprésidence”. Since September 10th, 2007, it joined the team of the polemists of One remakes the world on RTL.

Having taken part, near the professor Paul Alliès, with the creation of Master II professional “Trades of journalism” to the faculty of Right of Montpellier, it was appointed associated professor in 2006 there, on proposal of the university authorities. He teaches within the department of political sciences of the University Montpellier 1. Its principal courses have as a heading: “Philosophy of journalism”, “Sociology of journalism”, “Presses and capacity”, “Communication and policy”.

From 1986 to 1995, Edwy Plenel codirigé, then directed only a collection of books of topicality, initially at Gallimard (“With sharp of the subject”) until 1991, then at Stock (“With sharp”). Among the forty seven works which were published there, one notices in particular the best-seller of Gilles Perrault Our friend the king , two tests of Edgar Morin ( Penser Europe and My demons ), two of Daniel Bensaïd ( Me, the Revolution and Jeanne, of war wearies ), the precursory testimony of Alain Emmanuel Dreuilhe on the AIDS ( Corps with body ) and trilogy of Anne Tristan celebrates it ( With the Face , the Other world and Clandestine ).

In the field of the audio-visual fiction, Edwy Plenel was coscenarist of a business of State (1990), telefilm of Jean Marbœuf with Bernard Pivot in the title role, and adviser for Rainbow Warrior (2006) of Pierre Boutron, scenario of daN Franck.

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