Storm warning for the “Paquebot”. The house of Radio France is preparing to face several strikes, affecting as much freedom of expression, the program schedule as the very independence of the group, with the reform of public broadcasting which is looming. A first day of strike is planned for this Sunday, before two new days on May 23 and 24.
The show The great Sunday evening by Charline Vanhoenacker, in which Guillaume Meurice usually participates, is likely to be canceled and the antennas could experience other disruptions. With this first mobilization, the Radio France unions intend to protest against “the repression of insolence and humor” after the suspension of the columnist, as well as against the “sacrifice” of France Inter broadcasts.
Controversy over a joke validated by the courts
Guillaume Meurice was removed from the air on May 2 pending a possible sanction which could go as far as dismissal, four days after repeating a joke about Benyamin Netanyahu, initially made at the end of October. He is summoned to a first interview with human resources on Thursday. The comedian had compared the Israeli Prime Minister to a “kind of Nazi but without a foreskin”, which had earned him accusations of anti-Semitism and a complaint, recently dismissed.
In the midst of the Israel-Hamas conflict, his satire is variously appreciated on Radio France. It is a “rotten joke” for his colleague Sophia Aram, whose lack of solidarity and the different ways of evoking the Israeli and Palestinian deaths during the Molières evening were strongly criticized on social networks.
The audiovisual regulator, Arcom, sent a warning to Radio France in the fall. The Minister of Culture Rachida Dati judged on Tuesday that the public group “could not not react”, after the repetition of the contentious remarks, despite the dismissal of the complaints. This affair can, however, “raise questions about freedom of expression,” admitted the minister.
Grid redesign and merge in sight
The subject is highly sensitive as the CGT, CFDT, FO, SNJ, Sud and Unsa unions are concerned about “threats” weighing, according to them, “on popular and unique broadcasts”, in particular on France Inter where the broadcast schedule is being prepared. back to school. So much so that the Societies of Journalists (SDJ) and Producers (SDPI) of the channel recently denounced “an editorial shift” by France’s leading radio station, against a backdrop of budgetary savings. The environment program Earth squared must in particular evolve.
“It’s the usual grid work and it remains light,” we assure the management side. But the calendars collide: the temperature is rising at Radio France at the same time as a structural reform is being prepared for the entire public broadcasting sector. Tuesday and Wednesday, deputies will examine in committee the Senate bill providing for the creation of a holding company overseeing the sector.
This unique governance project for Radio France, France Télévisions, France Médias Monde (RFI, France 24) and Ina (National Audiovisual Institute) is a sea serpent. Drawing up a harsh observation of the existing situation, Emmanuel Macron had advocated a rapprochement in 2017. The Minister of Culture made it her hobby horse, wanting a “more powerful, more efficient” public audiovisual sector with implementation in 2025. She, however, maintains vagueness on the degree of integration envisaged: until the merger? The unions are in any case firmly opposed to it.