Louise Bernard, with Alexis Patri
The Council for Journalistic Ethics and Mediation (CDJM) issued an opinion in mid-April, which had gone unnoticed until then, on the lively debate last January on the i24 News channel by journalist Anna Cabana on Jean-Michel Blanquer, then Minister of National Education. The fact that the journalist and the politician are married had never been mentioned.
A “conflict of interest”. This is the criticism formulated by the Council for Journalistic Ethics and Mediation (CDJM) against journalist Anna Cabana and the i24 News channel. The case handled by the CDJM dates back to last January. Anna Cabana then hosted a debate program on the i24 News channel, where it was about Jean-Michel Blanquer. The then Minister of National Education was then mired in a controversy, after announcing new health measures from Ibiza, where he was on vacation with his wife. And his wife is precisely the journalist Anna Cabana.
A purely advisory opinion
But the journalist never mentioned on the air her marital link with Jean-Michel Blanquer, yet the subject of the debate she was leading. What the Council of Ethics accuses him of. It issued an opinion on this subject in mid-April. The latter had gone unnoticed until then. The CDJM believes that “the ethical rule of avoiding – or putting an end to – any situation that could lead to a conflict of interest has not been respected by i24News”.
The Council for Journalistic Ethics and Mediation points out that the channel could also have replaced the journalist during this debate. No sanction is taken, since it is not the role of this Council which only renders simple advisory opinions.