Washington University hosted Didier Pourquery, Editor-In-Chief of The Conversation, France, in Olin Library, March 26. He spoke about the need for a collaborative news outlet such as The Conversation and his plans to engage younger audiences with journalism.  

The event was titled “A New Media in the French Editorial Landscape: Conversation with Didier Pourquery,” and was co-sponsored by French Connexions, WashU’s Global Studies Program, WashU’s Program in Public Scholarship, and University Libraries.

The Conversation, which was co-founded in 2011 by Andrew Jaspan and Jack Rejtman, is a collaborative media outlet that pairs the expertise of academics with journalistic writing to share academic findings in the format of an easily digestible newspaper article. The Conversation recently expanded into a variety of editions around the globe, including The Conversation, U.S. and The Conversation, France. 

Over 110,000 academics contribute to The Conversation, and due to The Conversation’s Creative Commons License, other media outlets often republish their articles as well.       

Pourquery has been the Managing Editor-in-Chief of The Conversation, France for 10 years, and described the media outlet as a place to get “slow news.” Pourquery said he believes many people habitually avoid the news cycle because they feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of news, including fake news, available today, and that The Conversation provides an alternative.

“News avoidance is experienced by almost 30% of the American public and 33% of the French, and in many other countries, it’s between 25% and 50%,” Pourquery said. “You have to try to get those people back, but not with the usual hustle and bustle of the news. You have to give them something else, such as articles from The Conversation.” 

The event is linked to WashU’s newly created Program in Public Scholarship, which aims to help WashU’s faculty share their expertise with broader audiences. The Program in Public Scholarship often works closely with media outlets like The Conversation to get WashU faculty published in diverse ways. 

Christopher Schaberg is the Director of the Program of Public Scholarship and described his excitement about WashU hosting Pourquery.

“We work with The Conversation every day, so I was really excited when this event was announced,” Schaberg said.   

Pourquey ended by expressing his plans to expand The Conversation, France to younger audiences, such as college students. 

“[Our audience is] mostly people from 35 to 60 years old,” Pourquery said. “But we have this younger-age cohort that we’d love to include more. That’s why we are on Instagram and doing things like Reels to engage young people with our stories.”