French Sunday paper ends strike as far-right editor takes helm
Journalists at France's flagship Sunday newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche, have ended a 40-day strike after unsuccessfully protesting the appointment of an editor-in-chief affiliated to the far right.
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Staff had been on strike since late June to protest the nomination of Geoffroy Lejeune, the former head of magazine Valeurs Actuelles, which has courted controversy with anti-immigrant covers and was fined for racist insult in 2022.
Lejeune has openly supported far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, a former TV pundit who ran in France's April 2022 election on an anti-Islam, anti-immigration platform.
Press freedom groups and the French government had voiced reservations over Lejeune's appointment, with President Emmanuel Macron's culture minister, Rima Abdul Malak, saying she was alarmed by the risk to French "values".
'Empty newsroom'
Both the owners Lagardère and the journalists' association (SDJ), confirmed a deal had been agreed to end the 40-day strike, which has prevented the newspaper, known as Le JDD, from hitting the newsstands for six consecutive weekends.
Journalists for the paper, a mainstay of the French media landscape renowned for its political coverage, said the deal to end the strike came as it became clear Lagardère would go ahead with appointing Lejeune, adding that the move would prompt many reporters to leave.
"If we managed to throw the spotlight on the independence of newsrooms, we did not win against our shareholder," the journalists association said in a statement.
"Today, Geoffroy Lejeune takes office. He will find an empty newsroom."
Lagadère said it welcomed the deal and that the JDD's website would return on Tuesday and the print edition from mid-August.
"The agreement also provides for the setting up of support measures for journalists who wish to leave the editorial staff," the group added in its statement.
Media empire
The controversy has erupted as billionaire Vincent Bollore is in the process of acquiring Lagardère Group, which also owns Paris Match magazine and Europe 1 radio, after a successful takeover bid.
Bolloré, a conservative Catholic, has been gradually expanding his empire to take in TV channels, including the 24-hour news channel CNews, which was rebranded and most of its staff replaced after a long strike.
It has since turned further to the right with anti-immigration and hardline law-and-order comments made by some of its talk show hosts regularly inflaming social media users.
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