Guillaume Pitron
Winner of the 2008 Journalist grant
AWARD-WINNING PROJECT: To follow the trail of gum arabic between Sudan, France and the United States.
Guillaume Pitron normally takes the initiative and, so far, it is a technique which has borne fruit. He is one of those who do not hesitate to proactively arrange meetings and create opportunities for themselves. And his law studies? "A sound intellectual foundation to face today's world", he explains. At one point he had thought of working as a diplomat, trying to get into Science-Po or maybe the Ecole Nationale d'Administration, but he felt that his mind was not ready for such straitjacketing. And then he read a book by Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Guillaume identified with the book so he phoned the author who then arranged a meeting. Life is sometimes so simple. Guillaume suddenly realised: "I want his life!" he remembers having said to himself. At this time, being a Special Correspondent was still an unclear concept so he finished his studies in law in the United States half-heartedly. Whilst he should have joined the bar in New York and become a specialist in international criminal law, he decided on a work placement with National Geographic. Just to see what it was like. And he saw what is was like. His desire to become a special correspondent grew but, as one has to earn a living, he returned to France to work in a bank's legal department. He felt constrained in his suit. So, before going to work he worked on the Nouvel Obs site and in the evening he wrote articles for an English language newspaper. During his holidays, he travelled to India to follow the last Sikh warrior monks. He returned with an article which appeared in the French issue of National Geographic. In October 2007, he decided to "bite the bullet": he resigned from his position and immediately proposed a report on honey from Yemen to the VSD editorial team. He left three days later. It was as simple as that. On his return, he visited the Capa news agency just to see what was happening, once again. The meeting could have turned into a farce: he had no training as a journalist and could not use a camera... Nevertheless, his subject was second-to-none and he was brimming with enthusiasm. He then returned to Yemen with Alexis Marant (Albert Londres Prize) for the report's televised version. Guillaume is still taken back by such an encounter; he is not the sort of person to become blasé. Now, he has a new project: to follow in the tracks of gum arabic. For him it is a question of "seeing how raw materials can lead us into situations which leave us out of our depth and which become a part of a country's strategic, economic and military interests."
Three questions to Guillaume Pitron
Who is the editor-in-chief who is taking his/her time in offering you a Special Report?
Patrick de Saint-Exupéry, the editor-in-chief of the review XXI
Which Special Correspondent inspires you?
There are several. The classic ones: Albert Londres, Joseph Kessel and all those authors with a similar style. But I was unquestionably influenced by the work of Jean-Claude Guillebaud.
What does the grant mean to you?
It will let me carry out comprehensive research and complete a project without the pressure of financial constraints from the written and TV press.
A word from the jury chairman, Alain Louyot, Editor-in-chief at l’Expansion.
"From the outset, the original nature of the subject chosen by Guillaume Pitron and the angle that he had taken had appealed, on paper, to the vast majority of the jury. During the oral interview, Guillaume won us over through his enthusiasm, rigour and the clarity of his presentation and, more generally, through his sense of humour."
