Half the Journalists at France’s Sunday Newspaper Quit – Is France Headed Toward a Media Crisis?

(Sipa via AP Images)

Over half of the journalists at France’s only Sunday newspaper, Le Journal Du Dimanche (JDD), have resigned, putting an end to their 40-day strike in an effort to impede the appointment of far-right editor-in-chief Geoffroy Lejeune.

Once becoming aware of Lejeune’s impending arrival as top editor, JDD staffers voted with near unanimity to go on strike on June 22 – a decision that was held until August 1.

The editorial staff released a statement extinguishing the strike once Lejeune had assumed the position, but at least 60 employees declared their resignation instead of returning, according to Le Monde – over half of the iconic newspaper’s staff.

The strike was the longest in France’s media industry since the 1970s and resulted in a six-week absence of the newsstand staple.

Thirty-four year old Lejeune was previously the editor of a far-right weekly, Valeurs Actuelles, which had been submerged in controversy during his time there, before he was fired because his extreme editorial stances alienated readers and damaged ratings.

Lejeune is also a vocal supporter of xenophobic polemicist Eric Zemmour, who ran for the French presidency in 2022, and has been convicted three separate times for hate speech against migrants and muslims. Zemmour is also an active proponent of the “great replacement” theory.

Despite an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the arrival of Lejeune, the journalist’s historic efforts have revived a debate about media regulation in France.

The installation of the far-right editor arrives amid a media takeover by the mass media holding company, Vivendi, which is being led by conservative billionaire and media tycoon Vincent Bolloré. Vivendi is currently in the process of acquiring the Lagardère media group and received conditional approval from the European Commission to do so in June, but media experts urged the commission to reassess on media plurality grounds.

The concern from industry insiders seems to have great merit to it as Bolloré and Vivendi would have ownership of all of the following major media outlets: JDD, Paris Match, Europe 1 radio station, and CNews (a TV station that has drawn parallels to Fox News as a platform for right-wingers, including Zemmour).

The European Commission has opened a formal investigation into the transfer of Lagardère to Vivendi.

Director general of Reporters Without Borders, Christophe Deloire, described Bolloré as, “an ogre devouring journalism,” at an event they organized in support of the JDD staffers on June 27. Deloire has also claimed that, “American-style polarization is taking over,” in an op-ed with Le Monde.

Bolloré’s surge of control in France’s media sphere and Lejeune’s appointment as editor has also been met with disaproval from French politicians on the left, notably President Emmanuel Macron’s culture minister.

JDD employees were not the first to go on strike to preserve their editorial independence from Bolloré’s influence, as both CNews and Europe 1 went on strike for the same reasons in previous years.

Lejeune’s presence has already had an effect on the newspaper, as apparent by the contents of the August 6 issue, the first to be published since his appointment and the end of the strike. Left-wing critics observed that the Sunday edition platformed the usual right-wing talking points; immigration, violence, and critiques of left-wing media.

Lejeune has already recruited and brought in former colleagues from Valeurs Actuelles.

JDD’s first product under Lejeune immediately found itself in controversy. In a front page story paying tribute to a 15-year-old French boy who was stabbed to death, the newspaper used an image of a ceremony for a different victim with the same first name.

Lagardère defended the choice to Agence France-Presse as a, “symbolic photo.”

The hiring of Lejeune and growth of Bolloré’s media empire has intensified concern that the country’s media climate is beginning to drift towards US levels of political polarization and dilution of media plurality. JDD was previously known as a centrist publication, but under the direction of Lejeune those days are long gone.

The massive staff exodus at JDD could be the start of a media reformation in France.

A movement to reinforce the independence rights of journalists and maintain free press seems to be gaining momentum. One legislative proposal in France calls for newspapers that receive state subsidies to receive approval from its journalists before hiring a new editor-in-chief.

The French government has designated an independent committee (including Christophe Deloire)  to conduct an inquiry into press independence, misinformation, A.I. in media, and news in the age of social media which is set to begin in September. The conclusions of the “Etats généraux de l’information,” inquiry are expected by the summer of 2024.