After shaking up politicians in his punchy interviews, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach will be entitled to a presidential tribute. France Télévisions is organizing a ceremony on Monday, chaired by Emmanuel Macron. The Head of State will speak from 10 a.m., indicates the Elysée in a press release.
The group’s CEO, Delphine Ernotte, “decided to name the main building of the Paris headquarters”, in the 15th arrondissement, “Maison Jean-Pierre Elkabbach”, according to a France Télé press release released on Thursday.
“Monster” of journalism
Veteran of political journalism and also former boss of Europe 1, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach died Tuesday at the age of 86, sparking a shower of tributes from his peers and the political world. Emmanuel Macron notably saluted a “sacred monster of French journalism”, who disappeared “on the eve of the 65th anniversary of our Fifth Republic, he who was always there, on each of its major dates”.
After being head of news at Antenne 2, Jean-Pierre Elkabbach was CEO of France 2 and France 3 from 1993 to 1996. He encouraged the rise of new presenters like Jean-Luc Delarue, Arthur or Nagui. But after the revelation of contracts worth hundreds of millions of francs awarded to the star producer-hosts of France 2, he was forced to resign in 1996.
Recalling this affair, the CGT of France Télévisions called for a reconsideration of the decision to give its name to the building, described as a “masquerade” when the group’s headquarters should be “a neutral public good”. In addition to “the money wasted”, the union regrets the honor given by the public group to “a voice from Europe 1 who ended up at Bolloré, a figure in the private media”.