On this back-to-school day for 12 million schoolchildren, college and high school students, Emmanuel Macron will be received by Hugo Travers, head of the HugoDécrypte channel. An interview of more than an hour “devoted to the future of young people” which will be broadcast on YouTube and TikTok at 6 p.m.
More than 5 million subscribers on TikTok and more than 2 million on YouTube, Hugo Travers alias “HugoDécrypte” weighs heavily on social networks. The videographer publishes short and daily formats there to present the news of the day and longer videos of decryption. In recent months, many personalities have answered his questions: Angèle, Christopher Nolan, Hugh Jackman or Bill Gates. His YouTube channel, launched in 2015, has more than 650 million views.
At 26, the journalist is not alone in working on his channel: a dozen employees have since joined his structure, created 8 years ago.
If it is on social networks that the company of Hugo Travers has developed, his relationship with these platforms has not always been a calm river. In September 2021, during the presidential campaign, he broadcast and commented live on Twitch on a debate broadcast on BFMTV between Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Éric Zemmour. But BFMTV reports its channel which finds itself banned from the social network for 48 hours.
The 26-year-old videographer is particularly present on subjects that concern the youngest. In February 2021, the Sciences Po Paris graduate debated with Sarah El Haïry, Secretary of State for Youth at the time, about the difficulties encountered by students during the Covid-19 period. At this time, Hugo Travers also received Frédérique Vidal, then Minister of Higher Education, to discuss the closure of universities due to the pandemic.
Student precariousness, harassment or even the duration of school holidays will naturally be subjects raised this evening. “I consider that with my small team we have a responsibility, on our modest scale, to carry these subjects”, explains the videographer, in a video announcing the interview with the Head of State. No wonder, therefore, to see the president opting for this platform to “provide answers on the subjects that make up the daily life of young people in France”, according to a press release published by the videographer.
This is not the first time that Emmanuel Macron will appear on the HugoDécrypte channel. In 2019, a few days before the European elections, the head of state answered questions from Hugo Travers. In March 2019, he was invited to L’Émission politique, on France 2, to debate with Marine Le Pen on false information.
During the last presidential campaign, in 2022, the videographer had interviewed all the candidates for the presidential election, with the exception of Valérie Pécresse and Emmanuel Macron. The latter’s teams then mentioned “calendar constraints” and “unavailability” to justify this absence.
