Is this the situation at Sunday newspaperwhich had the effect of “a concrete block in the face” ? Or the fears expressed last winter by the editorial staff of Parisian or some Echoes about their independence? “I don’t know why, but now it’s no longer happening, confides a journalist from Marie Claire. Maybe because we have nothing left to lose. » At the women’s monthly, the probable dismissal of two editorial secretaries (journalists responsible in particular for editing the pages) sparks a protest movement like no one remembers having experienced.
Unveiled in January, the decision to put an end to their activity in order to outsource it provoked the constitution of the first Society of Journalists (SDJ) in the history of the title created in 1937, a standoff between management and the employee representatives, as well as the holding of several general meetings. “We condemn this unilateral decision by management and we question the relevance of sacrificing two positions (out of a total of six in the group) to balance the company’s accounts”protested the SDJ in a press release on September 12.
From the next issue, however, the work will be subcontracted by the Com’Presse agency, based in Astaffort, in Lot-et-Garonne. In addition to the two employees attached to Marie Clairefour editorial secretaries working for other titles in the group (Benefits, CosmopolitanAnd Marie Claire House) are also summoned, from Friday September 15, to interviews prior to their dismissal. The expected annual saving would be around 265,000 euros, according to figures circulating internally. “We denounce this decision which foreshadows the uberization of all professions in the written press”concludes the SDJ press release.
“A third of the payroll has already disappeared”
This is not the first time that the magazine, which has thirty-five journalists in the Print and Web editorial departments as well as more than twenty regular freelancers, has watched colleagues leave without hope of seeing them replaced. “This is the tenth small plan in ten years, a third of the payroll has already disappeared”assures Françoise Feuillet, the SNJ-CGT union representative – below ten employees targeted by dismissal, the company is not required to trigger a job protection plan.
According to figures from the Alliance for Press and Media Figures, Marie Claire sold 286,867 copies in 2022, showing a drop of 3.75% year-on-year. However, according to journalists, sales over the last four months are up compared to the previous year. “We are aware that the press is not doing well, we are not idiots, continues the trade unionist. But when we take an entire profession and outsource it, how can we believe that we will have the same quality in the end? » The editorial team fears that in the long term, the model service will also be entrusted to an external company – a process of subcontracting certain functions already experimented by Les Inrocks Or Psychologies Magazine.
You have 10.04% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.