At the head of the 20 hours on France 2 every weekend since 2007, Laurent Delahousse still appears alone on the screen but is never lonely on his tray. Saturday April 10, 2021, in his diary, the 51-year-old presenter paid homage live to one of his deceased collaborators, Didier Graftiaux. It was sound engineer.
The journalist spelled out all the news such as the death of Prince Philip, the cold that froze the crops or the fight against the virus, before paying tribute to his collaborator, not without emotion: “A message to the family of one of our colleagues who has just left us suddenly“, he announces, before continuing: “Didier Graftiaux was here on this set in charge of sound. I have had the good fortune and the pleasure of working with him for years. We send the most loving thoughts to his loved ones at this painful time “. On the screen, a black and white photo of the sound engineer is shown. Laurent Delahousse then stay head down for a few seconds before resuming the thread of its edition, then launching 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“An invisible bond that is woven with people”
Laurent Delahousse has been in contact with the France Television news teams since he presented the France 2 newspapers at weekends, and has been able to weave with them a real relationship of trust, friendship and respect. When a drama affects his teams, he does not hesitate to pay tribute to them in his edition of the 8 p.m., as in 2019, on the death of journalist Claude Sempère. Laurent Delahousse had thus declared, very moved and live on France 2: “May his work and his passion for journalism serve as an example for the new generation. He was 55 years old. He was a rare, precise, empathetic pen. He loved this job, always pushed us towards high standards and rigor “.
In one interview given to Puremedia in 2019, the presenter of 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, Laurent Delahousse, explained about his job : “The newspaper is a special adrenaline rush. When you’ve been doing it for a long time, there’s an invisible bond that forms with the people you work with, but also with viewers. “, before evoking the success of his journal : “The key to the success of the 20 hours compared to other media is that the information is based on simple and clear values. The information must be fair, balanced and independent, just like the person who embodies it “.
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