Journal du Dimanche employees begin their 13th day of strike in Paris on July 5, 2023 (AFP/Alain JOCARD)
The editorial staff of the JDD refused on Wednesday to meet Geoffroy Lejeune, a journalist marked on the far right recently appointed as its head, and renewed for 24 hours the strike started to protest against his arrival, announced the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of the ‘weekly.
“We are still asking the group’s management to renounce the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune as head of the JDD and to offer the editorial staff guarantees of legal and editorial independence. For any response, we were invited to meet him this morning (Wednesday) at 11.15 a.m. so that he can present his + project + to us”. Meeting that the editorial staff refused,” the SDJ said in a statement.
“His line goes against the identity of the JDD. (…) We do not recognize him as editorial director”, said Bertrand Greco, co-president of the SDJ of the Journal du Dimanche, whose speech was greeted with applause.
About forty people gathered in front of the premises of the Lagardère group, when Geoffroy Lejeune came to speak to the editorial staff. All wore a “JDD on strike” badge.
At the same time, the editorial staff renewed its strike for 24 hours for its 13th consecutive day. A total of 94% of voters voted for his continuation.
The JDD did not appear on the occasion of the last two Sundays, a first in the history of the newspaper. The previous strike, in 2016, affected only one Sunday.
Many observers see in the arrival of Mr. Lejeune at the head of the newspaper, closely followed by political and economic circles, the hand of the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, with opinions reputed to be ultra-conservative.
The latter steers the Vivendi group, a media juggernaut in France, which includes the Canal+ group and its channels C8 and CNews as well as Prisma, the leading magazine press group, and the publishing group Editis.
The appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune came just after the green light given under conditions by the European Commission to Vivendi to absorb Lagardère, a group to which Paris Match, Europe 1 and the publishing leader, Hachette also belong.
A strike fund was opened to support the movement and a petition was launched. It had collected nearly 37,500 signatures on Wednesday.
© 2023 AFP
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