French newspaper staff ends strike against new far-right editor

Journalists at France’s iconic Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) on Tuesday abandoned a 40-day long strike against the appointment of a right-wing editor at the helm.

The JDD newsroom had been on strike since June to oppose the naming of controversial right-wing journalist Geoffroy Lejeune as the newspaper’s top editor — a move seen as a consequence of the publication being bought by conservative media tycoon Vincent Bolloré.

Politicians, including from Macron’s ruling majority, as well as intellectuals and celebrities supported the protest, warning that the influential newspaper could become a mouthpiece of the far right.

“Today we have lost a battle but our fight is not over,” the JDD newsroom wrote in a statement published Tuesday, announcing that 94 percent of journalists decided to stop the strike in a secret ballot vote Monday night.

JDD journalists warned that many of them will leave the publication and urged the government and lawmakers to take action to protect media independence.

The announcement comes on the day Lejeune — a proud supporter of far-right candidate Eric Zemmour in last year’s presidential campaign — takes office. “He will enter an empty newsroom. Tens of journalists refuse to work with him and are set to leave the JDD,” the statement read.

Lejeune’s appointment has been officially decided by publishing group Lagardère, the JDD’s former owner, but it comes just as the media group is being fully taken over by the Vivendi group, which is owned by Bolloré.

The European Commission conditionally approved the acquisition of Lagardère by Vivendi in June this year. For months French MEPs and media experts urged Brussels to block it on media plurality grounds. To assuage competition concerns, Vivendi committed to offload its publishing branch Editis and gossip magazine Gala.

But the deal again came under scrutiny in Brussels last week, when the Commission launched a new probe into a possible violation of EU merger rules by taking business decisions over publisher Lagardère before the deal got EU approval.