46 GENIUS INTERVIEW Martin Boudot
sources. So we shared the data – even with Monsanto. Now that we’re finished, I think the companies don’t really like me. I don’t think the government is that pissed off about what we’ve done, but in some other parts of the world I’m pretty sure I’m not welcome anymore. FEED: As an outsider are you able to highlight things that someone in the country might not be able to? Martin Boudot: Absolutely. When you’re a foreigner, most of the time the people in charge are more willing to talk with you than a local journalist, who would have done exactly the same thing. They might think a foreign journalist has a more neutral point of view. He’s less of an activist and has no hidden agenda. It’s a pattern we have seen along the way. And it’s something that would happen in France, as well. I remember, for example, The New York Times wrote a very interesting piece about how the [Notre Dame cathedral] fire created a lot of pollution, especially lead pollution, in the air. And it was something very interesting but we didn’t see it or investigate it in France. There was the thought that it must be true, because they don’t have the same agenda they would have if they were French. So it can be really helpful being a foreigner in these cases. FEED: Have there been times when you weren’t welcomed as a foreigner? Martin Boudot: I was investigating mobile phone industry pollution in the north of China, in Inner Mongolia, in a town called Baotou. In this town, you’re not really there
industry. I was there, again investigating the mobile phone industry, and you have these local forces and local rebels that are really hard to work with. You have got to be very, very careful. There were 164 environmental activists that were killed in 2018 – being an environmental activist right now is one of the most dangerous jobs on earth. As journalists, we take some risks, but they are the ones taking the real risks. I rely on them and I really have a huge respect and admiration for these guys. FEED: How has your work changed with the arrival of new formats and streaming platforms? Martin Boudot: I’m working with Netflix at the moment. I think it’s interesting that we can see once again what I saw ten years ago, those large differences in storytelling style, and how you tell a story on Netflix versus the big French networks. We now have more broadcasters than ever and that’s important. A topic we
as a tourist. If you’re white, it means that you’re suspicious. Me and my caravan were followed by the secret services because we were investigating a lake that had been completely polluted by one of the suppliers of the mobile phone industry. We were arrested once, then twice, and then charged with being spies and basically expelled. That was in 2012, and I was not able to go back to China for five years. These things happen as well in Congo, when you want to investigate the mining YOU SHOULD NOT TREAT YOUR ACTIVIST SOURCES BETTER THAN THE INDUSTRY SOURCES
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