Michèle Léridon (10 November 1958 – 3 May 2021) was a French journalist and news director. A longtime journalist and editor at

Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse (AFP) is a French international news agency headquartered in Paris, France. Founded in 1835 as Havas, it is the world's oldest news agency. AFP has regional headquarters in Nicosia, Montevideo, Hong Kong and Washington, D.C ...

(AFP), she was its global news director from 2014 to 2019, when she became a member of the French

Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel The (, ''lit.'' ''Superior Audiovisual Council''), abbreviated CSA, was a French institution created in 1989 whose role was to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. The creation of the was a measure foun ...

Early life and education

Michèle Léridon was born in

Canteleu Canteleu () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A small town of forestry and light industry situated by the banks of the river Seine, just northwest and over the river from the ...

, the daughter of a physician and a radiologist, and was educated at the in Ouillins. She earned degrees in economics from the

Lumière University Lyon 2 Lumière University Lyon 2 (french: Université Lumière Lyon 2) is one of the three universities that comprise the current University of Lyon, having splintered from an older university of the same name, and is primarily based on two campuses in ...

and in journalism from the

Centre de formation des journalistes Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

in Paris.

Career

Léridon began her career in 1977, working as a reporter for two regional newspapers, ' and ''

La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest ''La Nouvelle République du Centre-Ouest'' (), commonly known as ''La Nouvelle République'' (''La NR''), is a French newspaper headquartered in Tours Tours ( , ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. I ...

'', then at the magazine ''

L'Usine Nouvelle ''L'Usine nouvelle'' is a weekly French business magazine that covers business and technology. It is based in Antony, Hauts-de-Seine near Paris. History This trade magazine appeared for the first time on 5 December 1891 in Charleville in the Ar ...

''. She joined AFP in 1981, working first in France and covering media news during privatisation, and later in Africa, where she covered wars in

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

and became the first woman director of the agency's Africa coverage. She subsequently worked in other managerial positions including as chief of the Rome bureau, and in 2014 became global news director, also the first woman to hold that post. In early 2019 she was appointed to the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, the regulator of electronic media in France, where she headed the working group on rights and liberties, pluralism and professional ethics, and was influential in shaping policy on

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social medi ...

and other online platforms and combatting

disinformation Disinformation is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. It is sometimes confused with misinformation, which is false information but is not deliberate. The English word ''disinformation'' comes from the application of the L ...

. She was also an administrative member of

Reporters Without Borders Reporters Without Borders (RWB; french: Reporters sans frontières; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organization with the stated aim of safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its advocacy as found ...

Awards

She was awarded the annual prize of the in the news reporting category in 2014, and the European Alliance of News Agencies prize in 2015.

Personal life

Léridon was divorced; she had three sons.

References

20th-century French journalists French journalists French women journalists 1958 births 2021 deaths People from Seine-Maritime Place of death missing 20th-century French women {{France-journalist-stub