By David PaugetPosted on 21-10-2018Modified on 21-10-2018 at 00:01
On October 21, 2003, Jean Hélène, RFI correspondent in Ivory Coast, was shot in the head by a policeman in Abidjan. Fifteen years later, this lover of Africa is still a reference in the business, and continues to enlighten us.
Bob on the head, plaid shirt, sleeveless jacket. Those who knew Jean Hélène remember, with a smile, his reporter's outfit. For millions of listeners, it was a singular, familiar voice that enlightened them about Africa. A man on the ground, he had traveled this continent since the early 1990s as a correspondent for several media, including RFI.
This lover of Africa knew its beauty, relishing, to use his words, " the tropical smells of the night or dawn ". He had also seen his most bloody conflicts: the civil wars in Somalia and South Sudan, the genocide in Rwanda, the chaos in Côte d'Ivoire. It is there, in Abidjan, that he was murdered by a policeman on October 21, 2003.
"A model": this is the word that comes up most often when we question those who knew Jean Hélène. Or rather Christian Baldensperger, his real name, which he considered unpronounceable on the radio. He will adopt his mother's, Janine Hélène, who died when he was only 10 years old. Few knew. Jean Hélène hated talking about him.
« Jean Hélène reminds us of what journalism is »
A true man of action in the shadows, he never put himself forward in his work. " From the point of view of style, the journalistic rigor, it was perfect, " said his friend Bernard Nageotte, former correspondent in Libreville, Gabon, then deputy editor of Africa service of RFI. " He was not politically engaged, but defended an idea of journalism that should always be valid : he always took history from the little people he was close to, and was not necessarily going to look for people to be able to learn. "
This opinion is shared by Christophe Champin, who was Jean Hélène's assistant in charge of RFI's Africa service in 2002. From his reports in East Africa and in the Great Lakes region, the theater of conflicts is already retains his modesty, his love for the field, and his recoil to never be shipped. This exposed him considerably, especially during the Rwanda war, where he was read and listened to on both sides. It showed an " active neutrality ", as the theorist Christophe Champin. A reversal of the sacrosanct objectivity which, for some, makes the bed of distrust towards the media today. " Jean's work in schools must be shared with young journalists. Read it and listen to it, learn from its experience, "defends his former assistant and friend.
" A paragon of intellectual honesty "
In his book Ecrits d'Afrique , published in 2004 (Editions de La Martinière), Pierre-Edouard Deldique, a journalist at RFI, offers to re-read some of his reports, selected from more than 800 articles from the World and 1,000 RFI correspondences . " It's the incarnation of the reporter, modesty and more. Jean Hélène reminds us of what journalism is, "he says. " He approached the news as closely as possible, in the field, but always trying to take a step back from the event to put it in context . "
Even today, to read or to listen to Jean Hélène, is to take a lesson on the trade. Pierre-Edouard Deldique, also a teacher at Sciences Po School of Journalism, says: " Every time I participate in the training of a radio promotion, I try to talk about him . Soundscapes, dynamic rhythm, the art of describing in a few words: Jean Hélène's style represents the quintessence of the report.
A journalist for RFI and for Le Monde , this double hat did not bother him: he excelled both in writing and on radio, despite the different codes. Frédéric Fritscher, former journalist at Le Monde , still remembers his articles very well. " When I was at the Africa Desk to cover African news from Paris, I became the first consumer of his papers. He had a passion for reporting. Bottom and form were inseparable for him. "
His work was known, and recognized, by his confreres and specialists in Africa. " He was not joking with the truth of the facts. It is a model, not only of foreign correspondent, but in any situation. Jean is a paragon of intellectual honesty , "he summarizes, his voice full of emotion
Inform despite the risks
Of course, the news of 15 years ago is by definition more topical. Admittedly, the context is no longer the same. Yet, Jean Hélène remains so close to us. His assassination, in the exercise of his profession, echoes today. " We can make a link, a continuous line between Jean Hélène and journalists who have been killed in recent months in Slovakia and Malta, " said Pierre Haski, president of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). " These are the same forces that are at work: a climate of delegitimization of the journalist, saying that it is a nuisance, which makes the passage to the act is no longer taboo. "
Jean Hélène, our contemporary, then. How to pay homage to this man so discreet, modest, avoiding any narcissistic effusion? Undoubtedly in the exercise of the profession, according to Pierre-Edouard Deldique: " be rigorous, continue to work in the field by not forgetting the human touch, to feel the country in which we are : to practice journalism in this way, it's a tribute to Jean Hélène "
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