My name is Maxime Thuillez and I am a journalist. I worked in television for 5 years, then I joined a group called My Little Paris. Then, within My Little Paris, I launched the Greenletter Club 3 years ago. It is a media outlet specialized in ecology. We are present in podcast form and on YouTube.
We have over 50,000 subscribers today. The editorial line is to say that global warming will affect our lives from A to Z.
On one hand, we talk about the scientific consequences. Then we also discuss how these consequences evolve in each core profession. For example: fishing, architecture, or agriculture.
This ecology media serves to view society through the prism and angle of global warming.
What is the role of an editor-in-chief within an ecology media outlet?
The biggest part of the job is reading and staying informed. I spend a huge amount of time reading reports. That accounts for ¾ of the work. In total, I have had to read 300 books on ecology. It’s a lot of work but it’s what gives value to the podcast and the interviews.
After that, you have to interview personalities, then edit the interviews.
How do you choose your guests?
Unlike many people, I identify a topic first. Then, I try to find the best person to talk about it. Sometimes I find these people in reports, books, or articles. Or I ask my guests if they know someone on the subject in question.
Sometimes it’s difficult. For example, I have been looking for someone to interview on the subject of sand for three years. It’s the second most used material in the world. But I can’t find anyone. I can’t find someone qualified on the topic. Sand is closely linked to industry. It’s an opaque subject where mafias are involved (in India, Morocco, and Indonesia).
What is your favorite part of your job?
One downstream part of my job is giving conferences. Communicating about global warming in companies, universities, and many other places.
What I like most is understanding phenomena. Then there is also the human aspect.
I am lucky to be able to meet many people. Unlike many topics, this one makes people more human. There is a kind of humility because we are all in the same boat.
Everyone working on ecology is eager to share what they know. Especially since it is talked about little compared to the importance of the subject and the consequences to come on our lives. There is a kind of brotherhood, solidarity among the different actors.
What was the trigger for creating a media outlet on ecology?
I have been reading books and reports on the environment for several years. I was often struck by the fact that the media did not talk about it at all. To give an idea: engineer Paul Leclercq scanned all the TV news in France between 2013 and 2018. He showed that 99.2% of the topics did not mention global warming.
If the job of a journalist is to show the importance of topics, the world as it is and as it will become, then in reality journalists are not doing their job.
As a journalist, it is my duty to talk about this subject.
What qualities do you think a journalist should have?
I would say:
- Persistence
- Curiosity
- Hard work
Because, like actors, journalists must constantly improve their skills on the topics they cover. It requires a lot of work.
Recently, I did an interview on the evolution of Earth's climates over 4.6 billion years. It’s a technical subject and I had to improve my skills to enrich the exchange with my interlocutor. I really wanted to understand and synthesize the topic. My goal was to share with as many people as possible the Earth's evolutions since its origin. It almost becomes scientific mediation.
Do you think we are starting to talk more often about global warming?
In recent months, we feel a slight stirring. The teams at TF1 and France 2 are beginning to be trained. But there is still a lack of general culture and understanding of the subject.
I will share an example that struck me a lot; it reveals what is happening. The day before the publication of the 2nd part of the IPCC report, there was a 3 minute and 30 second report (which is huge on TV) on France 2. It dealt with an American company trying to bring mammoths back to life using their DNA within about twenty years. Knowing that mammoths can prevent permafrost thawing. Permafrost has become a worrying subject. It is land that was until now frozen. It emits methane with global warming.
It is a very controversial hypothesis and a far-fetched subject. We don’t know if we will succeed in bringing mammoths back to life.
Anyway, this shows that the journalist and the editor-in-chief of the France 2 news do not understand the climate issues. It is more about spectacle information rather than really informing people about what needs to be done. For example: stopping meat consumption, cars...
Do you have other media to share with us?
Do you have a message for the younger generation?
Changes happen through a balance of power. As long as the balance of power does not change, there will be no change. Companies and governments will not change unless they are forced to.
The balance of power must change and pressure must be put on leaders. This can be done in the streets, through boycotts or civil disobedience.
If you had all the necessary resources, what would you do?
I would either carry out a major agricultural reform. That is, completely eliminate fertilizers and pesticides. Or a major institutional reform. Because it is by changing institutions that we will be able to lead reforms.
Feel free to check out our article about bio-based materials: Houbly
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