The Societies of Journalists or SDJ (associations of journalists formed within an editorial team to ensure respect for ethics and the independence of the newspaper) of Paris Match and the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) have dissolved, he said. -we learned on Friday from one of their members.
The SDJ of the JDD voted for its dissolution on Tuesday, and that of Paris Match disappeared the same day, no candidate having made itself known after the resignation of the members of its office, indicated this source, confirming information from the site Les Jours .
Relations between the SDJ and the management of the two press titles had become considerably strained since their takeover by the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, with opinions reputed to be ultra-conservative.
Since November, the Lagardère group, which owns these newspapers (which also owns Europe 1), has in fact been under the full control of Vivendi, a media giant run by the Bolloré family.
Tensions at Paris Match
The SDJ of Paris Match, for example, declared in December its disagreement with the choice of a front page dedicated to a Christmas nativity scene in a Parisian home belonging to Vincent Bolloré.
The three members of the SDJ office then resigned following a stormy meeting with the management of Lagardère News.
In the summer of 2022, the former politics and economics editor-in-chief of the magazine Bruno Jeudy was removed from this post after the publication of a front page contested by the SDJ, dedicated to the ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah.
A motion of censure was passed against the management.
And last June, a member of the SDJ, who was concerned about interference by Vincent Bolloré in the editorial choices of the weekly, was fired.
The association had become an empty shell
On the JDD side, the SDJ members of the newspaper unanimously voted for its dissolution because it had become an empty shell.
Grouped together in the “Article 34” association, former members specified on journalists have chosen to leave this title now headed by Geoffroy Lejeune”, former editorial director of Valeurs Actuelles, marked to the extreme right.
The SDJ remained in place to monitor these departures of around fifty journalists on permanent contracts and around forty freelancers.
“If the members of the SDJ offices do not benefit from a protective status, like that of elected union officials, the risk of a weakening or even a progressive disappearance of these associations which guarantee respect for ethics and independence is real,” warned the “Article 34” association, which defends “freedom, pluralism and independence of the media.”