TF1 is marking the back-to-school period by launching "LES RENCONTRES DE L'INFO", a series of public forums devoted to news reporting, to be held monthly in association with CLEMI*.

The series kicks off on Wednesday 20 October at TF1, when the public are invited to meet foreign correspondents Liseron Boudoul, Michel Scott and Guillaume Aguerre, and video-journalist Romain Reverdy.

They were among only a handful of journalists covering the news from Afghanistan in the days after the fall of Kabul – the topic covered in this first "RENCONTRES DE L'INFO" event, facilitated by TF1 group news mediator Christelle Chiroux. The four journalists will give exclusive testimony from this exceptional assignment: how they prepared for it, their experiences in the field, and how they returned to “normal” life.

The floor will then be open for the audience to ask questions and debate with the panellists.

Launching this series of public forums is a further illustration of TF1’s drive to engage with its viewers. We believe that being open and transparent about how news is produced reinforces trust in news coverage, and improves people’s understanding of how news media work.

Our new partnership with CLEMI, who are inviting many college students to this event, means we can seek out younger audiences and give them an opportunity to debate face-to-face with TF1 group journalists.

Thierry Thuillier, TF1 group Executive Vice President of News, says: "Media education has to be one of our priorities. I believe it’s crucial to help young people realise the importance of being properly informed. Now more than ever, we have a role to play. We need to teach them how to differentiate between news sources, adopt a critical mindset, separate out true and fake news, and get a clear understanding of how we produce and broadcast news stories. The forums we are hosting over the coming months will deal with some of the key issues facing news media, such as how we handle politics in our programmes, combatting fake news, and innovations".

*The French Centre for Media and News Education