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Character and veto power: French journalists’ two defenses against interference from owners

Corporate interests control most of France’s national newspapers. Serge Dassault, an aeropspace baron, owns the centre-right newspaper Le Figaro. The main shareholder of Libération, a left-wing paper founded by philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, is a banker named Edouard de Rothschild. Even the iconic Le Monde is in the hands of billionaires. Just until last year, journalists were the main shareholders. In June things changed when a trio of tycoons (a banker, a web entrepreneur, and a luxury goods businessman) took a majority of the shares, saving the newspapers from bankruptcy.

Big business ownership raises many questions regarding the independence of journalists. Mr. Dassault reportedly calls Le Figaro‘s editor-in-chief regularly to discuss content related issues. In January, the newspaper’s general manager, Francis Morel, was dismissed. Officially, Mr. Dassault wanted to give Le Figaro “a new impetus”. According to Le Monde, the main reason Mr. Morel was let go was because he and Mr. Dassault disagreed about issues regarding editorial interference.

After witnessing what happened with Le Figaro, the risk of new owners meddling around with the content of Le Monde worries some of its readers. The newspaper has been referred to as the “newspaper of reference” following its creation after World War II, and has arguably one of the strongest reputations in France when it comes to maintaining its neutrality.

Readers are not the only ones who worry. When Le Monde was up for sale last year, Nicolas Sarkozy called Eric Fottorino, the chief executive of the paper at the time, to voice his opinion about one candidate for the takeover. That candidate was the trio that eventually won. Each of the three businessmen were too close to the socialist party for Mr. Sarkozy’s liking. Piere Bergé, the luxury goods businessman, supported the defeated candidate, Ségolène Royal, in the 2007 presidential election, Matthieu Pigasse, the banker, worked in two socialist cabinets, and Xavier Niel, the web baron, financed Mediapart, a news website that held hostile views towards the French president.

Veto power

If there are any attempts at owner interference at Le Monde, it will be limited by the extent to which journalists can withstand the pressure. Also, Le Monde has a governance system designed to protect editorial staff; namely, staff members have the right to veto a newly selected candidate who is running for the position of editor. On 10 February, Le Monde’s Société des Rédacteurs, an association of active and retired journalists, voted on whether or not they should accept the new editor, Erik Izraelewicz, who was appointed by the owners. Izraelewicz, a business journalist, was approved with 74 percent of the votes, a number that went above and beyond the necessary 60 percent.

Veto power for journalists is common in the French press. The same week that Le Monde‘s writers cast their votes, two other newspapers held similar polls regarding the fate of their new editors. Journalists at Nouvel Observateur backed Laurent Joffrin, who was poached from Libération, and the 39-year-old, Nicolas Demorand, made it through with a mere 57 percent backing from staff.

The Forum des Sociétés de Rédacteurs, an umbrella organisation, currently accounts for 34 member associations. Not all of them have the same level of power, but according to a 2008 survey done by journalist Betrand Verfaillie, the wave of buy-ups by corporate interests has given associations of journalists a new impetus.

Some journalist associations, however, have seen their power decrease in recent years. In 2007, Edourd de Rothschild brought in new investors at Libération to save the newspaper from bankruptcy, on the condition that the staff would give up their right to veto decisions regarding capital increases as well as the appointment of a new CEO. Staff members were left only with the right to veto the editor.

At Le Monde, the recent takeover caused the share of the Société des Rédacteurs to shrink considerably, effectively excluding it from corporate decisions. Up until that time, the society had been an active shareholder that some blamed for bad business decisions, which they thought in turn led to the newspapers’ eventual financial problems.

Last November, French Socialist MP, Patrick Bloche, presented a bill requiring the presence of journalistic associations in all media organisations. Doing this would protect said associations from editorial control by large businesses, argued Bloche. In the end, members of Sarkozy’s ruling UMP party in parliament rejected the proposition and certain press commentators were also critical of the bill. A columnist for the newsmagazine Le Point wrote, “The only way to resist these pressures is not with protective structures but by men and their character”.

Adapt to survive

Time will tell whether owners try to influence editorial content and, if they do, how journalists will react. All three freshly appointed editors pledged to uphold their respective papers’ tradition. In his opening address to staff, Mr. Demorand said that Liberation would be “a lab for left wing ideas”. In a radio interview, Mr. Izraelewicz said that Le Monde would remain “the only neutral paper” in the upcoming presidential election campaign.

This does not mean that the trio’s time on the job will run smoothly. Nowadays, new bosses have to adapt to the Internet age, which has caused newspaper sales and profits to quickly erode. Mr. Izraelewicz said he would most likely have to appoint a right-hand man or woman, “in his or her forties, who is an IT geek and who has a good handle on both the Web and journalism fields”. If newspapers do not manage to find viable sources of income, journalists’ rights are likely to be put on the back-burner, as major shareholders willing to bring in big money become top priority.

Tags: banker, betrand verfaillie, business journalist, businessmen, candidate, centreright newspaper, ceo, chief, columnist, columnist for the newsmagazine le point, editor, edouard de rothschild, eric fottorino, erik izraelewicz, executive, france, francis morel, general manager, goods businessman, internet age, journalist, laurent joffrin, le figaro, le monde, le point, libration, matthieu pigasse, media organisations, mp, nicolas demorand, nicolas sarkozy, patrick bloche, president, sartre, serge dassault, sgolne royal, socialist party, ump party, veto, web baron, web entrepreneur, xavier niel,

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