Monday May 3 at the end of the morning, the working group which she chaired at the Superior council of audio-visual was astonished not to see appearing Michèle Léridon behind his screen. The advisor to Roch-Olivier Maistre had not warned of a possible absence from this virtual meeting, nor of any indisposition. Aged 62, the former journalist died at home on Monday, May 3, leaving behind three sons.
“It’s a big shock for the house, and a deep sadness, entrusts to World the president of the CSA. He was a very benevolent person, much appreciated and well respected for his professional rigor. We feel like we are losing a very grown up person and a friend. “ Appointed member of the body on the proposal of the President of the National Assembly, Richard Ferrand, where she arrived on the same day as Olivier Schrameck’s successor, on February 4, 2019, she chaired the “rights and freedoms, pluralism and ethics ”. A favorite field for the one who was also a director of Reporters Without Borders. “Michèle combined rigor and commitment, measure and courage”, praises the secretary general of the NGO, Christophe Deloire. “I saw her at work, she had a hell of a determination”, he sums up.
“Probity, height of view”
Michèle Léridon came from Agence France-Presse, where she joined in 1981. When she left, a member of the executive committee, she had been in charge of information since 2014. “She was the first woman to hold this post at AFP”remembers Emmanuel Hoog who had named her there and with whom he had become very close. The former CEO of the Agency, now managing director of the Combat group of Matthieu Pigasse, remembers “Trust and recognition” granted to her by her teams, to whom she had been able to promote “His probity, his intellectual elegance, his high point of view”, but also its feminism. “His commitment to freedom of expression and freedom of information will have marked his career”, recalls the CSA in a press release published Tuesday, May 4.
It was in these functions that she had experienced one of the most unpleasant moments of her professional career when, in 2015, the agency had wrongly announced the death of Martin Bouygues, CEO of the Bouygues group. “Erroneous information causes us considerable damage in terms of credibility and image”, regretted the journalist in an email to employees. The fight against disinformation and infox was already one of its major concerns. “His commitment to freedom of expression and freedom of information will have marked his career”, recalls the CSA in a press release published Tuesday, May 4.
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