Paris (AFP)

For decades, it has been "a window on the world" for French viewers: the magazine "Envoyé Spécial" celebrates its 30th anniversary on Thursday, with an evening dedicated to young people who change the world, the return of former participants, and the replay of particularly striking reports.

"Everything was to be cleared," recalls Bernard Benyamin, who launched the magazine in January 1990 with Paul Nahon, at the request of the management of Antenne 2 (which became France 2 in 1992). Because, he recalls, at the time, there was no magazine of reports diffused in first part of evening, since the end of the mythical emission of ORTF "Five columns with the one" (1959 -1968).

The period turns out to be favorable for this bet of the public service on information in prime time: in this year 1990, the Berlin Wall has just fallen, the iron curtain is cracking everywhere in Eastern Europe, Ceausescu is executed , the USSR saw its twilight and the first Gulf War broke out during the summer ...

The show has enjoyed great freedom of action since its inception, and with its reporting around the world, it has established itself as "a window on the world", underlines Bernard Benyamin.

"Anything was possible, without any pressure," says the journalist, who recalls that "Special Envoy" has benefited from an exceptional alignment of the planets: the broadcast was born before the appearance of news channels (LCI is launched in 1994, iTélé in 1999), internet and social networks, and while there were only 5 terrestrial channels within the PAF.

From its beginnings, it followed a great principle: deciphering the news, going beyond the raw information disseminated in the news.

- "Hear the time" -

If the show has grown longer and has undergone other changes to its format, Elise Lucet, who has presented it since 2016 (it succeeded Françoise Joly and Guilaine Chenu, who had taken over the controls in 2001), ensures that the editorial line remains the same: field reporting, investigation and close proximity to viewers.

Elise Lucet, who exercises the magazine's chief editor with Sébastien Vibert and Séverine Lebrun, says she is determined to bring to life "this great rigor" established in 1990 by Paul Nahon and Bernard Benyamin, which, according to her, enabled the show to follow the tradition of BBC investigative magazines or major American chains.

On the form, the show must continue to adapt to the expectations of viewers, she said, and take into account a broadcast that is done more and more via digital platforms. "We have to keep the DNA and hear the times", relying on social networks, which allow us to reach younger viewers.

- Return of great witnesses -

A profitable strategy since the magazine has solid audiences: 2 million viewers and 10% audience share (pda) on average between September and December. The previous show, broadcast on January 16, rose to 2.8 million viewers and 13.6% audience share, its best score in a year and a half.

Audiences among young people aged 15 to 34 are encouraging, especially when the magazine is devoted to environmental issues (13.3% bw for example for the issue on "life without plastic" and 11.1 % for another devoted notably to the Lubrizol scandal).

For its 30th anniversary, the magazine will benefit from an exceptional device, in three stages. During the first part of the evening, "Special Envoy" will look to the future with subjects devoted to young people who change the world: Kylian Mbappé, Greta Thunberg and Bilal Hassani.

In the second part, we will find people who have testified in the shows and whose stories are markers of the great evolutions of society in matters of childhood, family, work, environment ...

Finally, at 00.35, France 2 will broadcast a "Special Envoy Night", with an anthology of the greatest reports of the show, distinguished by prestigious awards.

© 2020 AFP