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by | Dec 1, 2017

Hugo Travers (French pronunciation: [/y.ɡo tʁa.vɛʁ(s)/] ⓘ, born 6 April 1997 in Versailles, Yvelines), better known under the pseudonym HugoDécrypte ("HugoDeciphers"), is a French journalist and YouTuber known for his video reporting and interviewers, which have become a popular source of news for young people in France.

Biography

Early life and education

Hugo Travers was born on 6 April 1997 in Versailles, Yvelines, Île-de-France. His father is a British national[1] who works in marketing, while his mother works in human resources.[2] He obtained his baccalauréat économique et social (ES) with an option internationale at the lycée Jean-Pierre-Vernant inSèvres, Hauts-de-Seine. He entered Sciences Po Paris in 2015 and graduated with a master's degree in Communications, Media and Creative Industries in 2020.[3] He planned to become a journalist.[4]

Career

Radio Londres

In 2012, while still in school, he launched RadioLondres ("Radio London"), a current affairs website. The name was chosen in reference to a hashtag on Twitter that shared the results of that year's French presidential election despite the ongoing period of silence.[5]

HugoDécrypte

In 2015, during his first year at Sciences Po, he created the YouTube channel "HugoDécrypte", which aimed to use short videos to provide "a journalistic treatment of the news" for young people.[4]

Over the next few years, he interviewed multiple candidates for the 2017 French presidential election and later the 2019 European Parliament election (such as Nathalie Loiseau, Benoît Hamon, etc.). He even interviewed French president Emmanuel Macron on the eve of the European elections on 24 May 2019/[6].

As part of the YouTube Creators for Change program, he received funding from the company in 2018.[7]

On 17 March 2020, Travers launched a daily format tracking the COVID-19 pandemic named "Point Coronavirus". As the subjects covered quickly diversified, the series was renamed "Actus du Jour", and has continued, along with a podcast version, to the present.[8]

Hugo Travers in 2020

Travers founded Frame55, an influencer marketing agency along with content creator Micode and Jean Sabouret in 2020.[9]

On 5 February 2021, he intervied Minister of Higher Education Frédérique Vida live on his Twitch channel about the issues facing students due to university closures.[10]

By September 2021, the HugoDécrypte channel had thirteen staff members,[10], which grew to 20 by 2023, mostly young journalists.[2] As of 2024, the channel has a team of 25 employees.[11]

On 23 September 2021, he commented over a political debate broadcast on BFM TV between Éric Zemmour and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. In response, BFM TV reported him and other streamers on the platform livestreaming their feed, leading to a 48-hour ban being placed on Travers' channel.[12] Jean-Luc Mélenchon himself expressed support for the streamers.[13]


On 4 September 2023, he interviewed Emmanuel Macron[14] about the future of French education, in the context of a ban on the abaya in schools. The exchange, titled « Quel avenir pour les jeunes » ("What is the future for young people"), was broadcast live on YouTube and TikTok[15].

On 17 April 2024, he interviewed Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ukraine about the Russo-Ukrainian War.[16]

Mashup

On 13 January 2022, Travers launched a weekly talk-show named "Mashup" that is broadcast on Twitch.[17]

Elan

On 31 March 2024, he launched a digital media company named "Elan" focused on introducing youth to the workforce.[18] Additionally, a job search platform for young people was launched.[19] Elan launched with content on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn, with further expansion in the works.[20]

Television

During the 2017 French presidential election, Travers was a commentator for the TV channel LCI on Christophe Jakubyszyn's show.[21]

In March 2019, he debated Marine Le Pen over the topic of "fake news" for the show L’Émission politique on France 2.[5]

Travers debated Sarah El Haïry, the secretary of state for youth, on the subject of student anxiety caused by COVID-19-related university closures for Bruce Toussaint's show on BFM TV[22]. Some internet commenters criticized El Haïry for using the informal tu (thou/you) pronoun to address Travers during the debate.[23]

Starting in October 2023, he hosted a show with longer-form (30 minute) interviews on France 2 titled HugoDécrypte : L'interview face cachée,[2] as part of a shift by public broadcaster France Télévisions to increase youth appeal.[24]

Radio

Between 2018 and 2019, he worked as a commentator on Europe 1[25].

Reception

Hi status as a journalist and the applicability of the moniker "decryption" for his program, which can be likened to a press review, have been questioned.[26]

Travers has been praised for making information accesbile to young people.[27][28]

On the other hand, his interview with his friend Squeezie for France 2 was criticized as self-serving and promotion by Télérama.[29][30]

He has also been criticized for political interviews with contradictory statements or lacking, parcitularly by overcondensing talking points.[31]

Accolades

Awards

Year Ceremony Category Nomination Result Ref(s)
2022 ForYouAwards ForYou d'Or Himself Nominated
2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 (France) Média HugoDécrypte Won [32]
2023 TikTok Awards For You HugoDécrypte Won [33]
2023 GQ Men Of The Year Journaliste de l'année (Journalist of the year) Himself Won [34]

Honors

Notes et références

  1. ^ Iribarnegaray, Léa (22 September 2021). "« HugoDécrypte » et sa petite entreprise". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Vasseur, Victor (2023-10-28). "De YouTube à France 2 : comment Hugo Travers a conquis le web, et maintenant la télé, avec ses vidéos d'actu". France Inter (in French). Retrieved 2023-10-28.
  3. ^ Tristan Quinault-Maupoil (4 October 2016). "Présidentielle : Hugo Travers, le youtubeur qui va être incontournable en 2017". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2024..
  4. ^ a b Astrid-Edda Caux; Rita Faridi (12 October 2018). "HugoDécrypte en long, en large, et en Travers". La Péniche (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2024..
  5. ^ a b Lanez, Émilie (2019-09-09). "Hugo Travers : à 22 ans, il réinvente le JT". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2020-02-26..
  6. ^ Lecuit, Camille (27 May 2019). "Qui est Hugo Travers, le youtubeur qui interview Emmanuel Macron ?". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 2019-05-29..
  7. ^ Julia Alexander (May 8, 2018). "YouTube investing $5 million on 47 creators trying to make platform more positive". Polygon. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  8. ^ "Le podcast « Les actus du jour » d'Hugo Décrypte reste le plus diffusé en novembre selon l'ACPM". 100media.themedialeader.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  9. ^ "Les youtubeurs Hugo Décrypte et Micode s'associent pour créer une agence de marketing d'influence" (in French). Les gens d'Internet. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
  10. ^ a b Léa Iribarnegaray (2021-09-22). "« HugoDécrypte » et sa petite entreprise". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 2021-09-23..
  11. ^ Berlinger, Joshua (16 March 2024). "The 26-year-old YouTuber conquering French journalism - CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved 2024-07-02.
  12. ^ "Sardoche, Hugo Décrypte… Pourquoi ils ont été bannis de Twitch". Le Point. 2021-09-24. Retrieved 2021-09-26..
  13. ^ Lucas Jacque (2021-09-24). "De nombreux streameurs bannis alors qu'ils diffusaient le débat Mélenchon-Zemmour". Le Dauphiné libéré. Retrieved 2021-09-26..
  14. ^ Heyman, Matthieu (2023-09-04). "Interview d'Emmanuel Macron : ce qu'il faut savoir sur HugoDécrypte". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  15. ^ "Emmanuel Macron interviewé par le youtubeur HugoDécrypte ce lundi". Les Echos (in French). 2023-09-04. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  16. ^ I interviewed Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv (in French). Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  17. ^ Agence France-Presse (2022-01-11). "Twitch : le youtubeur Hugo Travers, à la tête de la chaîne HugoDécrypte, lance une émission d'actualité". Le Parisien. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  18. ^ Caroline Sallé (2024-03-31). "Le youtubeur star HugoDécrypte lance un média autour de l'insertion professionnelle". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  19. ^ Jules Thomas (31 March 2024). "« HugoDécrypte » lance son site d'annonces d'emploi, pour rapprocher les jeunes des entreprises". Le Monde. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  20. ^ "HugoDécrypte lance Elan, média en ligne pour l'emploi des jeunes". La Croix. 31 March 2024. Retrieved 2024-03-31.
  21. ^ Clément Garin (24 February 2017). "Hugo Travers : le jeune youtubeur devient chroniqueur pour LCI". Télé Star (in French). Retrieved 2024-05-14..
  22. ^ Hugo Travers (2021-02-02). "Mal-être étudiant : l'échange entre le youtubeur Hugo Décrypte et la secrétaire d'État chargée de la jeunesse". BFM TV (in French). Retrieved 2021-02-02..
  23. ^ Hugo Bernard (3 February 2021). "Quand le Gouvernement tutoie les jeunes influenceurs qui parlent du mal-être des étudiants". Rotek (in French). Retrieved 14 May 2024..
  24. ^ Julien Pichené (11 October 2023). "Le Youtubeur Hugo Décrypte arrive sur France 2 le 28 octobre" (in French). Europe 1. Retrieved 14 May 2024..
  25. ^ Benjamin Meffre (28 August 2018). "Hugo Travers rejoint Europe 1". Puremédias (in French). Retrieved 2021-09-23..
  26. ^ Marion Michel (2023-09-05). "Hugo Décrypte bugue face à Emmanuel Macron". Télérama. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  27. ^ Nguyen, Thuy-Diep (2023-04-12). "Pourquoi les marques rémunéreront les influenceurs 32,5 milliards de dollars cette année". Challenges. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  28. ^ Zerouali, Khedidja (2022-04-08). "La course présidentielle aux influenceurs". Mediapart. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  29. ^ Marion Michel; Augustin Pietron-Locatelli (2023-12-23). "HugoDécrypte face à Squeezie sur France 2 : amabilités, promo et échange de bons procédés". Télérama. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  30. ^ Julien Pichené; Solène Delinger (2023-09-06). "Emmanuel Macron interviewé par Hugo Décrypte : l'entretien bat des records d'audience sur YouTube". Europe 1. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  31. ^ Loris Guémart (23 April 2022). "Présidentielle : on a décrypté « HugoDécrypte »". Arrêt sur images. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
  32. ^ Ménage, Gaëlle (2023-04-25). "30 UNDER 30 | Hugo TRAVERS • HugoDécrypte". Forbes France (in French). Retrieved 2023-05-26..
  33. ^ Phelippeaux, Clara (2023-11-09). "Qui sont les 7 TikTokeurs à avoir été récompensés aux TikTok Awards 2023?". Les gens d'internet (in French). Retrieved 2023-11-14..
  34. ^ Grais-Cernea, Adeline (2023-12-01). "Hugo Travers : "Je ne prends pas mal qu'on m'appelle youtubeur ou créateur de contenus"". GQ Magazine (in French). Retrieved 2023-12-24..
  35. ^ "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres – hiver 2023". culture.gouv.fr (in French). Retrieved 2023-06-27..

External links