Léa Salamé presents the 8 p.m. news on France 2 every week. According to the ethics required by her profession, she must remain neutral and impartial in her reporting. This is a challenging task for the Franco-Lebanese journalist, especially as the Israeli army continues its strikes in Lebanon.
Last April 9th, over 300 deaths were reported in Beirut. Her father, the current Minister of Culture in Lebanon, even testified on BFM TV: “I was driving from my office to the Prime Minister’s office when my car almost jumped as a bomb fell 200 or 300 meters away from where we were. It was a sudden and multiple attack that resulted in a general carnage across the city.”
“It took me an hour to reach him”: Léa Salamé worried about her father
Interviewed by 15 minutes media, Léa Salamé expressed her concerns while emphasizing her need to remain neutral. “Last week, there were bombs in Beirut. The operation launched by Israel was particularly violent. There were 300 deaths…,” she said. The journalist retorted, “There were bombs not far from your father.”
Léa Salamé’s response was, “Well, it took me an hour to reach him, and that was up to me. It was in the morning or around noon when I finally understood that he was not injured. It’s like a mechanism where I detach myself and return to being a French journalist, like Laurent Delahousse, and I present the ‘8 p.m. News.’ I have to gather myself. It’s not a morning show or a talk show. Some people project onto me, saying they felt sad, but it’s not my role to show it.”
Léa Salamé dating Raphaël Glucksmann: will she have to resign?
This is not the first time that Léa Salamé has faced this kind of controversy. The 46-year-old journalist is in a relationship with Raphaël Glucksmann, a European deputy and potential candidate for the presidential election. Questioned last February by the investigative commission of the National Assembly on public broadcasting, she justified, “Before being anyone’s wife, I am an independent, honest journalist and a free woman.” In 2019, when her partner was involved in the European electoral campaign, she withdrew from the airwaves. She promises to apply the same rule for the upcoming presidential election. “If he is a candidate, I will step down immediately,” she assured.
