A pioneer of digital journalism, he notably directed the Foundation for a New Journalism in Latin America, created by the writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Journalist Jean-François Fogel died on Sunday March 19 in Paris, at the age of 76, his wife announced to AFP. He succumbed to a cerebral hemorrhage. Born the March 3, 1947 in Gargenville (Yvelines), a graduate of Sciences Po and the Journalist Training Center, he made his debut at Agence France-Presse and worked for numerous publications, including Release And Point.
Advisor to the newspaper’s management The world in the 90s and until 2002, he took part in the relaunch of the daily newspaper with the creation of a new formula in 1994. He then participated in the definition and implementation of the strategy and editorial design of the digital subsidiary of Worldwith the launch of the lemonde.fr website.
A specialist in the digital revolution of the press
With Bruno Patino, currently president of Arte, he co-wrote two books on the digital shift for the press: The press without Gutenberg in 2005 and The numerical condition in 2013. They both created the site francetvinfo.fr, which became franceinfo.fr.
Jean-François Fogel (JFF) left us today March 19, 2023. His family and those who love him are in amazement and grief. pic.twitter.com/FZEGMUd6sF
— Bruno Patino (@brunopatino) March 19, 2023
Also a professor at the School of Journalism at Sciences Po and a consultant for numerous media, Jean-François Fogel has published other works, including Morand Express (1980), End of the century in Havana (1993), or even The Testament of Pablo Escobar (1994).
Jean-François Fogel was also one of the leaders of the Foundation for a New Journalism in Latin America, created by the writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez, whom he had met in the early 1970s. “Jean-François had a deep knowledge and interest in Latin America and Latin American culture, he wrote books about Cuba and Colombia (…) He loved journalism and literature, he cared about freedom of expression and the quality of democracy in the region”, writes the Foundation in a text that pays tribute to him. And its authors to quote a maxim of Gabriel García Márquez pronounced in an interview granted in 1983 to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo : “Nobody kills a writer. Not even death.”
This site would not exist without Jean-François Fogel who was one of the linchpins of the birth of the digital platform of France Télévisions in 2011, then called francetv info (then became franceinfo.fr). He laid the foundations and accompanied us throughout its development, with finesse, benevolence and a striking vision of what digital technology should bring to the landscape of public service information. Many of us have known, rubbed shoulders with and appreciated this charismatic personality, never stingy with advice on writing or tea. The editorial staff is shocked to learn of his disappearance and to publish this news. We are thinking of his family and friends.