The portrait
Article reserved for subscribers
Often referred to his highly publicized family tree, the thirty-something journalist who is passionate about politics has inherited a daily show on BFMTV this fall.
There he is, facing us, big celestial blue eyes, cheeks eaten by a three-day beard, the organic child of political journalism, the nepo baby of the news channel sets, the Bourdieusian textbook case. In the Duhamel family, I ask for Benjamin, son of Patrice (ex-multimedia manager since ORTF) and Nathalie Saint-Cricq (grumpy editorialist for France 2), nephew of Alain (invariable columnist in mustard jacket), also cousin of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra (parent of a reshuffled pupil and minister who swims in waste water). The thirty-year-old is one of the curiosities of the new TV season with his arrival at the controls of a daily on BFM TV, Everyone wants to know.
What everyone wants to know: How does it feel to be the latest poster child for elite reproduction? “It would be indecent for me to complain,” retorts Benjamin Duhamel. A blunt and clever speech, a bit rehearsed too: “The sons of cleaners or farmers obviously don’t start out with the same chances in life. It just annoys me when it essentializes me. I still hope that if I got here, it’s not just because of my name.” He made an appointment at the Bar de la Croix Rouge, in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, an address from his student years – he also has that slightly top-of-the-class enthusiasm that scientists have.
