Benoit Clair (born 1953) is a French
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
and a published
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
.
Career
After studying
journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
, sciences politiques and
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
in University in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
and
Tours
Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metro ...
(France), Benoit Clair began his career as the French Parliament liaison for Remy Montagne, who was deputy of the 3rd district of
Louviers
Louviers () is a commune in the Eure department in Normandy in north-western France.
Louviers is from Paris and from Rouen.
Population
History
Prehistory
In the area around Louviers, cut stones from the Paleolithic era have been foun ...
, in the
Eure area. In 1974, Clair was a correspondent for French media like
Radio France
Radio France is the French national public radio broadcaster.
Stations
Radio France offers seven national networks:
* France Inter — Radio France's " generalist" station, featuring entertaining and informative talk mixed with a wide variety o ...
and
Europe 1
Europe 1, formerly known as Europe n° 1, is a privately owned radio station created in 1955. Owned and operated by Lagardère Active, a subsidiary of the Lagardère Group, it is one of the leading radio broadcasting stations in France and its pr ...
. He was one of the first French journalists to cover the war in
Lebanon
Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...
(1974–1975), with Gabriel Dardaud. Founder of the free radio Paris FM in 1981, which three years later became a subsidiary of Europe 1, Clair was appointed its co-director together with Robert Namias. Located in the
Montparnasse Tower
Tour Maine-Montparnasse (Maine-Montparnasse Tower), also commonly named Tour Montparnasse, is a office skyscraper located in the Montparnasse area of Paris, France. Constructed from 1969 to 1973, it was the tallest skyscraper in France until ...
, Paris FM later changed its name to 95.2 FM, then Fun Radio Group, which is still in business.
In 1985, the prestigious French publication ''
Paris Match
''Paris Match'' () is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features.
History and profile
A sports news magazine, ''Match l'intran'' (a play on '' L'Intransigeant ...
'' delegated Clair as special envoy to the
Johnson Space Center in
Houston, Texas, to observe the training of two CNES French spacemen, members of the first Franco-American shuttle crew. A senior writer for ''Paris Match'', Benoit was the first journalist allowed to join the shuttle crew members. He accompanied them 24 hours a day, for the entire training period until their departure for the launch pad at
Cape Canaveral. A series of reports on the training was published in ''Paris Match'' in 1985 and 1986. ''Paris Match'' sold more than one million copies worldwide covering this major event. Benoit's first book, ''Aujourd'hui le soleil se lève 16 fois'' (''Today, the Sun Rises 16 Times''), was the outcome of this assignment and was published in September 1985 by Carrère-Lafon. The book covers the space trip of
Patrick Baudry
Patrick Pierre Roger Baudry (born March 6, 1946 in Cameroon) is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the French Air Force and a former CNES astronaut. In 1985, he became the second French citizen in space, after Jean-Loup Chrétien, when he flew ab ...
, French payload specialist aboard
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
's
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' ( Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is one of the orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully operational orbiters to be built. Its first mission, STS-41-D, flew from August 30 to S ...
mission STS-51-G. The book was followed by an audio CD produced by CBS France in January 1986. The series features the narration of the space trip, written by Clair, with voice-over by Michel Chevalet from TF1.
Later, Clair was hired by
Aérospatiale as head of Communication of their
Ariane 5-Hermès
space program
A space program is an organized effort by a government or a company with a goal related to outer space.
Lists of space programs include:
* List of government space agencies
* List of private spaceflight companies
* List of human spaceflight prog ...
. In 1988, Benoit was appointed communications advisor for the political campaign of
Raymond Barre
Raymond Octave Joseph Barre (; 12 April 192425 August 2007) was a French centre-right politician and economist. He was a Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs under three presidents (Rey, ...
,
presidential candidate. After the election, he was retained as director of communication and marketing for Europe by the American group
AlliedSignal/
Bendix Corporation, headquartered in
Morristown, New Jersey.
Clair moved to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
in 1991, as communication consultant and accredited journalist correspondent of French media entities like ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of r ...
'', Prisma-Presse group (''
VSD'') and
RTL. He was the permanent correspondent of
Radio Monte Carlo
Radio Monte Carlo (RMC) is the name of radio stations owned and managed by several different entities:
* RMC (France) is a French-speaking station, broadcasting in France and Monaco owned by NextRadioTV.
**RMC Sport, a French bouquet of paid T ...
from 1995 to 2007. During his tenure at RMC, he was the producer and host of a daily hit broadcast show, live from
Hollywood, California
Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...
. The show lasted from 1996 to 2000. In 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012, Clair covered the
US Presidential Elections for different French media, like TV5 and published, in 2004, a second book about Senator
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...
's campaign. The book was ''John F. Kerry targets the White House'';
Pierre Salinger
Pierre Emil George Salinger (June 14, 1925 – October 16, 2004) was an American journalist, author and politician. He served as the ninth press secretary for United States Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Salinger served ...
, the former press secretary of President
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...
, wrote the foreword. In 2005, Clair co-wrote the script, produced and directed the film ''The Truth about Black Dahlia'', commissioned by
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
for French TV sub-channel 13ème rue using new
digital cinematography
:
Digital cinematography is the process of capturing (recording) a motion picture using digital image sensors rather than through film stock. As digital technology has improved in recent years, this practice has become dominant. Since the mid- ...
cameras, i.e., the RedOne camera from the Red Digital Cinema Camera Company. Clair is currently Senior Correspondent for several french and european media-companies and associate-producer for a series of TV and high profile
HDTV
High-definition television (HD or HDTV) describes a television system which provides a substantially higher image resolution than the previous generation of technologies. The term has been used since 1936; in more recent times, it refers to the g ...
news and documentary videos. In April 2016, he was named Chairman of the Board of BCF & Partners, an international capital venture firm based in Geneva (Switzerland), with major investments in new technologies, news and digital media.
Films and writings
* ''The Dream is alive'' (''Le rêve est vivant''), 1986: Screenplay and voice-over, IMAX Canada – USA – Japon – France (La Géode)
* "Waiting for Hermès" ("En attendant Hermès") and "Children of the mine", ("Les enfants de la mine"), 1998: Special Envoy to Peru TV station FRANCE 2
* ''Information Mercenaries'' (''Les mercenaires de l'Info''), 52 min.: Screenplay TF1 Prime News
* ''The Truth about Black Dahlia'' (''La vérité sur le Dahlia noir''), 52 min., 2007: Screenplay and Director, NBC Universal and 13ème Rue TV (Paris)
* Several other contributions for entities such as TV5MONDE, LCI TV (TF1), LCP-Assemblée Nationale
* ''Today, the Sun rises 16 Times'' (''Aujourd'hui le soleil se lève 16 fois''), publisher Carrère-Lafon, Paris.
* ''John F. Kerry targets the White House'' (''John F. Kerry: Objectif Maison-Blanche''), foreword by Pierre Salinger, Publisher Le Felin, Paris.
* ''FBI - 100 years'' (''FBI - 100 ans d'histoire''), in the making, to be published in 2018.
References
External links
Paris MatchJohn F. Kerry by Benoit Clair*https://web.archive.org/web/20110710174728/http://www.eko-sphere.com/documents/Le%20glacier%20de%20la%20honte%20-%20la%20rinconada.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clair, Benoit
1953 births
Living people
French journalists
Date of birth missing (living people)
Place of birth missing (living people)
French male non-fiction writers
Bendix Corporation people