French journalists end strike, may resign over appointment of “far right” editor
The staff of Le Journal du Dimanche, one of France’s top Sunday newspapers, announced on Tuesday that they were calling off one of the most protracted media industrial actions in recent French history.
The strike lasted 40 days, causing the paper to be absent on news stand for six weeks, a second time in its 75-year history.
This was in response to the appointment of an editor with a history of far-right views as the new editor-in-chief, ahead of the takeover of the newspaper by French Billionaire Vincent Bollore, who is set to acquire a majority stake in the publishers of the newspaper, Lagardère Group.
According to the journalists’ union, Geoffery Lejeune (the new editor)’s support for a right-leaning editorial stance, which included anti-immigrant language and sympathy for the extreme-right author and presidential candidate Éric Zemmour, revealed beliefs that were “in total contradiction with those of the JDD.”
The journalists who took part in the strike claimed that once the paper’s soon-to-be owner, Mr Bollore, made it plain that he would not reverse the appointment, it was essential to consider alternative avenues of protest. The employees must cooperate or risk losing their jobs.
“Today, Geoffroy Lejeune takes office. He will enter an empty newsroom,” the union said in a statement. “Dozens of journalists are refusing to work with him and will leave The JDD.”
Mr Lejeune is anticipated to start work on Tuesday. He previously served as the editor of a far-right French publication that received sanctions for printing offensive, racist slurs. It was feared that a significant mainstream news organisation might become a right-wing platform when news of his nomination to The JDD, as the paper is known, sparked a firestorm in French media and political circles.
Apart from a quick message on Twitter expressing his honour at taking the reins, Mr Lejeune, 34, has not made any public pronouncements. He was ousted from the right-leaning publication Valeurs Actuelles last year after a disagreement with the owner over editorial policy.
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