The determination of journalists JDD don’t weaken. Against the takeover of the weekly by Vincent Bolloré and the announced arrival of far-right journalist Geoffroy Lejeune as editorial director, the journalists are entering a second week of strike. For the second consecutive time, the weekly will not appear on Sunday.
In total, 96% of voters expressed themselves in favor of the continuation of the strike (89 for, four against, three who did not decide), details the Society of Journalists (SDJ) on Friday in a press release, specifying that a new vote will be held Saturday morning on the renewal or not of the movement. This is the second strike resulting in the non-publication of the newspaper, after that of 2016, and the longest movement known to the editorial staff, according to former members of the newspaper.
Dead end
The drafting of JDD asks the management of Lagardère News, owner of the weekly, to “renounce the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune” and to “offer the editorial staff guarantees of legal and editorial independence”. These two demands do not seem close to succeeding: the management of the newspaper announced the arrival on Wednesday of Geoffroy Lejeune at the editorial office to present his “editorial project”, according to an internal source at the JDD.
Many observers see in the arrival of Geoffroy Lejeune at the head of the newspaper, closely followed by political and economic circles, the hand of the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, with reputedly ultra-conservative opinions. The latter steers the Vivendi group, the media behemoth in France, which notably includes the Canal+ group and its channels C8 and CNews, as well as Prisma media, the leading magazine press group, and the publishing group Editis.
The appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune came just after the green light given under conditions by the European Commission to Vivendi to absorb Lagardère, a group to which Paris Match, Europe 1 and the publishing leader, Hachette also belong. “I made this decision alone. Neither Vincent Bolloré, nor anyone from Vivendi, was involved, ”denied Arnaud Lagardère, leader of the group of the same name, Tuesday in the newspaper. Le Figaro. According to press reports, journalist Charlotte d’Ornellas, also marked on the extreme right and who came from Current Valuesshould join Geoffroy Lejeune at the head of the JDD.