“Despite the anger… Avoid chaos…” This is the title of the front page cover of the latest issue of Marianne, available on newsstands since Thursday, April 21. Under the ” anger “, a photo of Emmanuel Macron’s eyes. Under the ” chaos “, those of Marine Le Pen. The message of the weekly is clear: Sunday April 24, it will be necessary to prefer the first option to the second, and to vote in favor of Emmanuel Macron. This call for a vote would be nothing special – some media, including The worldhave made their preference clear – if he was the expression of the editorial staff.
Problem, this title would have been changed at the last minute, at the will of the shareholder of the newspaper. This is the accusation made by the Society of Editors of Marianne (SRM), which denounced “an unprecedented attack on its independence” in a press release published on Tuesday, April 19. According to the journalists, Daniel Kretinsky (owner of the CMI group of which Mariannealso an indirect shareholder of World) would “intervened directly to modify the “one”, denounces the SRM. This interference constitutes a serious attack on the editorial independence of Marianne ».
Originally, the magazine was not to give voting instructions. The opening headline was similar in terms but different in punctuation: “Anger or Chaos? “, was it mentioned, sending the two candidates back to back. The choice not to take sides had been carefully considered by the management and the editorial staff during two meetings held on the subject. ” This “one” was balanced. We didn’t want to do like other press titles. Our readers are not boots! », testifies a journalist. A double page commissioned from Jean-François Kahn and Jacques Julliard was supposed to rebalance the newspaper’s lack of position. “They knew that I would have reacted anyway, as the creator of the newspaper. The idea was to avoid scandal.believes the founder of Marianne. In the last issue, the duo conspires thus “the impossible neither-nor”and explains “why we vote Macron”.
In a letter posted on Twitter, the editorial director, Natacha Polony, who did not respond to the Worlddecided to take on this last-minute change
In a letter posted on Twitter, the editorial director, Natacha Polony, who did not respond to the Worlddecided to assume this last-minute change, saying that the newspaper’s position has been “defined by the editorial management, and it alone”. However, she acknowledges having been “mindful of the wishes of the CMI group to leave no ambiguity as to the position of the weekly”. A way of recognizing half-word that she had taken into account the opinion of the Czech billionaire, whereas until then, the boss of the newspaper claimed loud and clear a perfect editorial independence.
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