“Shall we rise up and break? »the magazine asked Socialter in its “front page” of the August-September issue, which devoted a file to sabotage (ranging from workers’ means of action to the disarmament advocated by the collective Les Soulèvements de la Terre). Visionary? In the space of a few months, four of the six employees who made up the bimonthly – which addresses ecological, democratic and social economy themes – have in any case slammed the door.
Deploring a lack of personnel to produce the magazine (whose circulation fluctuates between 30,000 and 50,000 copies for 15,000 to 20,000 claimed sales), unsatisfactory salary conditions as well as disagreements with the shareholder and founder, Olivier Cohen de Timary , on the investments to be made for several months, some of them have discreetly announced their respective departures on social networks in recent weeks. Voluntary discretion due to confidentiality clauses.
“End of the adventure for me, but I will continue to defend a radical ecological and social line elsewhere, otherwise”simply wrote, at the beginning of September, on LinkedIn, the journalist Philippe Vion-Dury, editor-in-chief of the bimonthly for six years. “This issue will be the last for me. My adventure Socialter ends here »for its part, published, at the beginning of October, on X (formerly Twitter), the former deputy editor-in-chief, Clément Quintard. “It’s time for me to (…) start my own freelance adventure (but first I’m going to rest a little) »responded Marine Benz, now former artistic director and graphic designer of the environmentalist magazine.
“Human dissensions”
For his part, Olivier Cohen de Timary, who combines the roles of co-founder, publishing and editorial director, and now interim editor-in-chief, also prefers to remain vague. He just mentions “human dissensions which explain departures”while arguing that “the vast majority of freelancers working for Socialter will continue to do so”.
“New generation economy magazine”at its beginnings, in September 2013, Socialter was relaunched, in July 2021, with a new formula with a more committed tone, a strong graphic identity and a cash slogan: “Radical criticism and alternatives. » Also, several figures from the left (François Bégaudeau, Camille Etienne and Alain Damasio) took the lead in the latest special editions. Will this identity, which made it possible to broaden the readership, continue?
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