“It was a blow that left everyone on the ground. » The same words of “stunned” and of “shock” come back in the mouths of employees of France Culture and France Musique. On Wednesday June 7, during the morning editorial conference, Laurence Bloch, director of broadcasting and editorial strategy for Radio France, and Vincent Giret, director of information and sports, announced the cancellation of information from the France Musique schedule and the disappearance of the 10 p.m. news on France Culture.
These changes, revealed by Telerama, must take place as soon as the next school year begins, at the end of August. The management of the radio group justifies its decision by speaking of a “redeployment” on digital and towards the morning for “stick to usage”explains Mr. Giret, who also wishes “strengthen the editorial singularity of information” various Radio France stations and “move towards a complementarity of offers”.
Arguments that do not pass internally. “If we go to the end of this deadly logic for information, since we have to be complementary, why are there still newspapers on Inter and not just on Franceinfo? »pings an employee of France Culture. “Redeploying on digital is a cream pie. We delete and we create nothing”tackles another.
Fewer external needs
In response, the management of Radio France denies wanting to make a budgetary choice, arguing that two of the three journalists concerned will now work for France Culture, while the third should continue to practice for France Musique.
Still, the two stations, which used freelance journalists to contribute to replacements, will therefore now have fewer external needs. “If we remove an appointment, the assistants, technicians and freelancers also pay the price”reacts a member of the editorial staff.
Also, many are worried about the fact that the cultural station of Radio France “will have no newspaper for twelve hours each day, between the 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. news”. Same consternation at France Musique: “Our listeners don’t want to be disconnected from the world”certifies a collaborator of the thematic radio, estimating that the morning newspapers constituted up to now “his spine”.
Some even fear that this removal of newspapers and flashes from France Musique is an additional step towards a simply digital radio, and no longer hertzian. “We are moving towards an increasingly musical antenna, with fewer time markers”apprehends an employee.
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