Journalists from public media France 24 and RFI protested on Friday after statements by Emmanuel Macron on France’s international influence, which they said equated them with “spokespersons” for the state. Thursday, before the French ambassadors gathered at the Elysee Palace, the President of the Republic called for “assuming a strategy of influence and influence for France”.
In this speech which pointed to “the narrative, Russian, Chinese or Turkish” in Africa, Emmanuel Macron urged “better use of the France Media World network, which is absolutely key, which must be a strength for us”. “France 24, media of the FMM group (France Médias Monde, editor’s note), is in no way the official voice of France”, replied the SDJ (Society of Journalists) of the continuous information television channel, in a statement posted on social media.
“We will never give up an ounce of our independence”
“It is a public service media, not a government media. It is not, either, an operator of the diplomacy of influence”, insisted the SDJ of France 24. In a separate press release, its counterpart from the radio RFI, which also belongs to France Médias Monde, insisted that this group “is not the mouthpiece of the Elysée”.
The Society of Journalists reaffirms the editorial independence of the editorial staff of #France 24. pic.twitter.com/GpsYptQjYq
– The SDJ of France 24 (@SDJ_France24) September 2, 2022
“Our journalists are in no way and will never be a tool at the service of your communication and your policy”, continues the SDJ of RFI, a radio station very listened to in Africa. “We will never give up an ounce of our independence”, continues RFI’s SDJ, according to which “these sentences cast suspicion and discredit on the work of (its) correspondents”.
A controversy on the background of the abolition of the audiovisual license fee
This controversy comes in the wake of the abolition of the fee which finances public broadcasting, voted in August after a promise toEmmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign. Opponents of the abolition of the license fee fear that public broadcasting will lose part of its independence by being subject to budgetary vagaries decided by the State, instead of a dedicated mode of financing.
The France Médias Monde group brings together France 24 (in French, English, Arabic and Spanish), RFI (in French and 15 other languages) and Monte Carlo Doualiya, radio in Arabic.