As traditional media houses seem to struggle with online readers and viewership, a French founder of the media outlet Hugo Décrypte, has captured the attention of a young audience on social media. Hugo Travers, 26, founded the French media start-up that delivers news aimed primarily at young audiences.
The journey began about eight years ago as a university student. Today, his YouTube channel boasts fourteen million followers across its social media accounts, two hundred million monthly views on TikTok and another thirty-five million on YouTube. For him, he believes this comes from a more horizontal model that directly engages with the audience. The outlet often invites those active on comment sections to live sessions in studio.
“Simplified dialogue with our audience is important to build a trusting relationship. Those who follow us can easily provide feedback on our content. If a piece of news isn’t clear, they can tell us, and then we strive to rectify it in subsequent videos.” Travers told a media outlet in an interview.
Clearly the model is working and resonating with the young audience. Hugo Decrypte’s Instagram account has more followers than Le Monde. For context, Le Monde was founded on December 19, 1944, by journalist Hubert Beuve-Méry at the request of Charles de Gaulle, the great French statesman.
Additionally, the new media house has also surpassed France24 in terms of its social media audience. France24 is arguably one of the most known 24-hour news networks in France and the world. According to media monitor ACPM, Hugo Decrypte’s daily news update is the most downloaded podcast in the country.
President Macron Interview
The audience remain a coveted demographic for many who wish to speak to them. This is true for brands and politicians alike. Such is the dominance of Hugo Decrypte that President Emmanuel Macron gave an interview to Travers in order to reach a younger audience. On is X post, Travers wrote the following in French after the interview “I hope I have been worthying of the challenge, and thank you for your messages.”
In the run up to the French presidential elections in 2022, the media outlet hosted nearly all of the candidates.
Travers has also stated that it is important for Media outlets to trust young professionals to carry the stories and deliver them to the audience. He says they are “sometimes very skilled on platforms like TikTok”. He further claims young people are based placed to devise “suitable formats because they themselves spend a lot of time on these platforms.”
No Journalism Education
When Travers launched the channel eight years ago, all he had was a Chromebook without editing software. He was studying at Sciences Po, at a Parisien university.
He says “Indeed, I didn’t attend journalism school, I don’t have a press card. Yes, I wear multiple hats, particularly entrepreneurial ones, as I lead my media outlet. But within this outlet, I carry out journalistic work daily, surrounded by full-time journalists.”
He hired his first employee in January 2019 who today serves as editor-in-chief. The team has now grown to twenty-five employees working out of an office in Paris. Most of the staff are in their twenties.
Hugo Decrypte Trust
The growth of the company is partly attributed to drop in trust in Mainstream media. It was in 2016 that Donald Trump was elected on a platform that claimed media outlets spread “fake news”. His message resonated with audiences across the world.
French news outlets face declining advertising revenue that has led to media outlets across the world turning to subscription models. Reuters reported that French media companies face a drastic drop in interest, along with one of the highest percentages of disconnection from news. Subscription models are hard to implement in the country with only 11% willing to pay for news.
Travers attributes the brand’s success to the channel’s original mission: producing accessible content. That means no paywall and interacting directly with younger audiences on social media.
According to Travers, the audience often say their content is easily accessible. “Whether on TikTok, YouTube, or another format, it’s within reach.”
