Bernard Langlois

Biography

Bernard Langlois, born August 17, 1945, is a French alter-globalization journalist. He is notably the founder of the weekly Politis. A specialist in North/South relations, Bernard Langlois is a founding member of the ATTAC association. Bernard Langlois began his career at the Dauphiné Libéré in July 1963, a few months before entering a journalism school. He was first, in turn: reporter at La Vie catholique illustrée (from 1966 to 1968), reporter/radio presenter at Europe 1 (from 1968 to 1970), presenter of the JT Télé-nuit at ORTF (1st channel) (from 1971 to 1972), editor-in-chief of Tribune socialiste (weekly of the PSU) (from 1972 to 1974), independent journalist (from 1975 to 1977) then editorialist at Matin de Paris (from 1977 to 1981). In 1981, he became presenter of the Antenne-2-midi (A2) news, until September 14, 1982. He was dismissed for having weighed up two deaths learned of on the same day, those of Bachir Gemayel and Grace of Monaco, during the editorial that, at the time, opened the Antenne 2 midday news. It was for having minimized1 the death of Grace of Monaco ("It will not change anything in the destiny of humanity. Just an ordinary mourning, the ordinary sorrow of a famous family that was familiar to us by the grace of the gazettes") after having announced the assassination, which occurred on the same day, of President Bachir Gemayel, in the middle of the Lebanese war, that Bernard Langlois was dismissed. He was not so much mocking the death of the Princess of Monaco, whom he considered a woman of quality, as the importance, according to him disproportionate, that the press then gave to her, in particular the press now called people, at the time "press of the heart" ("weight of words, shock of photos", he said during his presentation). Pierre Desproges, in an indictment at the Tribunal des flagrants délires against Alain Ayache, who according to him represented a certain press that Langlois criticized, affirmed his support for the journalist. He was then producer and host of the program Résistances (A2) (from 1983 to 1986). He was a member of the Sponsorship Committee of the Center for Documentation and Research on Peace and Conflicts renamed Observatoire des armements. In 1988, he participated in the creation of the weekly Politis (anti-liberal left) in association with Michel Naudy and Rémy Galland. He took full powers in 1989 and remained director until 1999. He kept a "Bloc-notes" there until the end of January 20105. In February 2010, he opened his blog on the Politis website. Bernard Langlois now lives in Creuse.