An entire sector mobilized: from France Télévisions to Radio France, staff are on strike Thursday and Friday against the proposed lightning merger of public broadcasting defended by the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati. The National Assembly must theoretically debate this reform at the same time in first reading, with 280 amendments on the menu. But the examination risks being postponed until June 24 due to the delay on another text, the agricultural bill.
From the regional networks of France 3 or France Bleu to the Parisian headquarters, the mobilization promises to be massive against what is perceived as a “forceful passage”. Thursday morning, the Radio France antennas were disrupted and the usual broadcasts were replaced by music. On the television side, if the Télématin show on France 2 was able to take place live, the Franceinfo channel rebroadcast programs.
To ensure the retransmission of the debate Thursday evening on France 2 between Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and the president of the RN Jordan Bardella, management has also planned to use external service providers, according to the unions
Time is running out: wanting to “gather forces”, the Minister of Culture plans a transitional phase with a common holding for public broadcasting on January 1, 2025, then a merger a year later. Some 16,000 employees are affected. In addition to France Télévisions and Radio France, the audiovisual juggernaut would also bring together Ina (National Audiovisual Institute) and France Médias Monde (RFI, France 24). The integration of this last group, however, is debated even in the presidential camp.
Strike notices have been filed in these four public companies, where there are fears for resources and jobs. A rally is planned near the Ministry of Culture on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. “It is our survival that is at stake,” said the Radio France unions during a general assembly on Wednesday, calling for “a radical message” to be sent through the strike.
They are preparing another mobilization for May 28, in the event that the first solemn vote on the reform by the deputies is maintained on this date.
“Ineffective and dangerous”
Concerns are particularly acute at Maison Ronde at the idea that radio could be swallowed up by TV. In a forum at World published on Wednesday, more than 1,100 Radio France employees, including presenters Léa Salamé, Nicolas Demorand, Guillaume Erner and Nagui, expressed their rejection of a “demagogic, ineffective and dangerous” project.
“Why engage (the sector) in a merger which promises to be long, complex, anxiety-provoking for employees and without any real editorial objective?”, also ask the France Télévisions unions. To staff, Rachida Dati assured Sunday: “I want to guarantee you not only sustainability but (also) your strength” in a world of “exacerbated competition”, between platforms and social networks.
“The political moment has come”, according to the minister, after an attempt at rapprochement by her predecessor Franck Riester stopped by Covid-19. “Obviously, we are not going to standardize either professions or activities,” she also insisted on Wednesday in the Senate during questions to the government.
The giant company, called “France Médias”, would have a budget of four billion euros. To accelerate, the minister from LR relied on a bill from Senator Laurent Lafon (Centrist Union) programming a holding company, already adopted in June 2023 by the upper house.
“We are not opposed to the merger” but “we can question the timetable”, underlined Mr. Lafon on Public Senate on Wednesday. The parliamentary shuttle is only just getting started. The fate of France Médias Monde does not appear to be decided. Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné affirmed that the government was ultimately in favor of its exclusion from the single company.
But discussions could be tight with the right, which is conversely attached to its inclusion. RN elected officials – in favor of a pure and simple privatization of public broadcasting – support the merger project. Privatize? LR boss Eric Ciotti has “no taboos” either. For its part, the left holding torpedo like fusion. LFI sees in this project “the culmination of the denigration and weakening” of the public service operated by Emmanuel Macron. “It is not the return of the ORTF that will allow us to compete with Netflix,” add the environmentalists.