An eclectic journalistic journey mixed with a nice dose of love for sport and you get Géraldine Catalano. Editor-in-chief of L'Équipe magazine, this passionate about beautiful words, surveys and the human being transmits to us over the course of a conversation her vision of her profession which she loves so much and of the place of women in the world medias.
In barely two sentences pronounced, Géraldine Catalano, shares with us her deep tenderness for the sports world. From a child who is a fan of tennis and football, practicing gymnastics, she has been editor-in-chief of L’Équipe magazine for almost four years. July 11, 2016 to be more precise. A date that the journalist can not forget: the defeat of France during the final of the Euro, but let's move on. Because yes, sport is about victories and defeats, which animate everyone and make the beauty of this world of exploits. Let's go back to Géraldine Catalano's journey. Graduated fromIPJ (Practical Institute of Journalism) in Paris, she started working at Gala a few years and then became a freelance writer for Point where she turns very early on to social issues. Express Style then completes his CV, while being a freelance writer for The Magazine Team. Not surprisingly, a destiny for sport. With a father, a recruiter in football, his young years were marked by games watched by family and discussions surely heated about the results. There is no doubt that these moments draw a childhood.
When asked why this urge to write about this sporting cosmos, Géraldine Catalano says "that sports journalism is ultra-rich. We can do surveys, reports, everything is present, all social issues cross the sport and vice versa. The papers can be treated with lightness, even an offset side, from the distance or in a very serious way. All the big questions of today’s world are present in sport". In summary, her job is a source of daily fulfillment. Géraldine Catalano finds this truth of the field that she cherishes more than anything in her work for L'Team with these moments of grace which "draw crowds down the street, crying with joy".
Upon his arrival at the head of the magazine The team, the journalist and her team, because we must not forget that a media works thanks to its different members, want to redirect their publication. As Géraldine Catalano reminds us The team is a historical name with many supports. So the idea is to put them away and have an even more open editorial approach. "We want to push the door of the locker room so as to explore all the territories that have been invested in sport", she explains. The bet is like"synthesize between pure and hard enthusiasts of sport and those who live it differently, with a little more distance, but who vibrate just as much"Her sensitivity as a woman gives a new approach to the magazine, but the editor insists that what prevails in the editorial choices is above all the strength of the stories and their quality. In a certain parity within the editorial staff (five women and seven men) a dialogue is created with each other. Woman, man, whatever, the words that tell an event or an individual have no gender, sex and they are open to all readers and to all readers.
"The subjects are not ghettoized, even if we are very vigilant about the evolution of women's sport, because it is a fundamental reality that counts. We made, for example, a cover on the pioneers of sport, with illustrations by Pénélope Bagieu. These editorial moves will also advance the recognition of women in society. Likewise, at L’Équipe, there is a particular care taken by management with regard to the representativeness of women in the workplace. Many women are widely read in the newspaper ", says Géraldine Catalano.
A generation of women sports journalists have made their mark on television and the print media
And on the place of women in the so-called sports media, what about it. For the chief reporter, progress has been made, "by Marianne Mako in the late 80s" Passing by "Estelle Denis in the 90s" but also "Nathalie Iannetta on Canal +"According to her, a whole generation of women sports journalists have imposed themselves on television and in the print media. Could this" macho "side of the medium have ended? Géraldine Catalano declares that"the spirit of the times is egalitarianism between men and women"and vigilance is required as well as a great reactivity on facts that can happen. By crossing several editorial offices in her career, the sports enthusiast"at the risk of disappointing or bringing a dissonant note to what we can imagine"didn't really experience this famous 'machismo', for her,"it's "a non-subject". A chance, which she readily admits following the affairs of recent times as is the case with Clémentine Sarlat, a former sports journalist from France Televisions who testified to the sexism that she had to face every day.
"Obviously there have been drifts, there are undoubtedly still. I have no naivety about these questions. I think the #MeToo wave did a lot of good, it caused a lot of introspection both for each of us, man and woman and for each media. This generated real work. It is a very good thing. On a personal level, I have never encountered a few predators. In addition, since there are more women in positions of responsibility, the dialogue is greater and men are more sensitive to these subjects. There is a real change from previous years. I chat with men who are very interested in articles about champions. When we love sport, we love all sport", she tells us.
Géraldine Catalano also testifies that when she started, twenty years ago in the profession, the facts of sexism that she could see took place "nit is not in men's newsrooms, but rather in newsrooms where archaic patterns were implanted. The so-called serious subjects were in some pages and the female subjects in the supplements".
Fortunately, times change and words are freed. Regarding the advice that Géraldine Catalano can give to future journalists, these words are final: "go to sport! You have your place. You must not have complexes. You will be surprised by the breadth and depth of the subjects. And then there is always a part of childhood and joie de vivre".
The Team and the health crisis
Prospects for the future that can only delight, in a world where ways of thinking are changing. As for The Team, the best is emerging as always. This year, two awards came to reward the work of the media: for one of their photographers and for an investigation into the end of collective showers in sport. Despite the health crisis, the newspaper remains the first PQN (national daily press) title to be sold on newsstands. Regarding the Mag, over the period January to mid-March, there were 209,300 copies on average per publication, an evolution of about + 2% compared to the same period the previous year. After a publication downtime during confinement, L’Équipe magazine is back in force. Find it every Friday.