the Is Radio France’s “planning” living its last weeks? Called into question under the pressure of young journalists gathered in a collective to denounce the perverse effects, this organization of replacements in the local and national newsrooms of Radio France has entered a phase of overhaul. This should be completed by the end of the year, for application from January 2023, announces the management of Radio France.
Set up to ensure the replacement of absentees (during holidays or sick leave) in the 44 local stations of France Bleu and in Paris, the “planning” has long been considered as an opportunity for young journalists , to make their first professional weapons before being hired. Over time, however, the constraints linked to it (extreme mobility on the territory, isolation, very heavy workloads), have been increasingly badly experienced, when they have not given rise to real excesses. An expertise of the firm Isast on the psychosocial risks linked to the organization of the work of precarious workers within the France Bleu network, unveiled in December, had moreover brought to light “illegal working conditions” – as well as The world had indicated. “Some articles have hurt us a lot”we recognize at Radio France.
A two-step reform
The reform of the system is done in two stages. A first package of measures with immediate effect was announced at the end of September, which aims to improve working conditions. The editors were reminded of certain rules, such as respect for RTT rights, or the ban on systematically assigning replacements to weekends, evenings and public holidays. The creation of a “freelance referent”, or an interlocutor with whom to discuss any difficulties, is welcomed by the representatives of precarious workers. Other measures are supposed to follow, such as the revaluation of the freelance or “housing scale”intended to take into account the high cost of rentals in tourist towns.
A second phase, which must tackle the very foundations of the system, opened this week with the consultation of journalism schools, which send fresh professionals to Radio France each year. “Without making generalizations, we note that the schedule no longer represents for them a form of absolute Holy Grail”, explains Pascal Guénée, director of the IPJ (Practical Institute of Journalism) and president of the Conference of Schools of Journalism (CEJ). While battalions of journalists have, for years, crisscrossed France according to contracts but at the risk of their private lives, new generations are wondering about the sacrifices they are called upon to make.
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