New shocks in the Marseille newspaper Provence.
The journalists of the daily owned by the shipowner Rodolphe Saadé voted this Friday for a motion of no confidence against the general management of the newspaper as well as its shareholder CMA CGM, and an unlimited strike with 129 votes in favor, out of a total of 163 participants.
Object of their anger: the one-week layoff of the editorial director, Aurélien Viers, and his summons for an interview prior to dismissal.
The reason:
“an ambiguous one in the words of Jean-Christophe Tortora, director of Whynot Media
[Subsidiary of CMA CGM, editor's note]
, Laurent Guimier, deputy general manager for information of the group and Gabriel D'Harcourt, general director of La Provence group and director of publication,”
explains the newspaper’s SNJ in a press release.
“By this motion, the editorial staff of La Provence refuses to carry out its missions in fear of its management
,” he continues.
“We demand that the sanctions against Aurélien Viers be dropped, and that he return immediately”
to his post, insists Audrey Letellier, union representative at the SNJ, to Le
Figaro
.
“It’s not just Provence that this concerns, but freedom of the press in general,”
she adds.
Journalists are due to meet for a new general assembly on Monday morning to decide on further “
actions
”.
In support, the newspaper La Tribune, also owned by CMA CGM, decided to go on strike from Tuesday.
The companies of the journalists of BFMTV and RMC, as well as the elected representatives CGT, SNJ and CFDT, explain in a press release that they learned with
“astonishment”
the news, while their group will be sold to the shipowner.
“These decisions are scandalous.
On March 19, when questioned about editorial independence by the elected representatives of the CSE of Altice Média - a group that he intends to buy -,
Rodolphe Saadé nevertheless assured that he was not interventionist on the editorial line
",
protested the representatives of the editorials in a press release.
“These commitments will have lasted barely 48 hours
,” they continue, before asking
“the drafting of a solid and engaging ethical charter”
with representatives of CMA-CGM.
At the origin of this layoff which ignited the powder, a front page of Provence published Thursday March 21
.
“Following the front page of La Provence on Thursday March 21, 2024, which provoked strong reactions linked to the ambiguity of its message, the management of the newspaper decided to withdraw Mr. Aurélien Viers for a week and to proceed to an audit on the front page manufacturing process
,” indicates an email received by the newspaper’s editorial staff and which L
e Figaro
was able to consult.
The interim will be jointly handled by journalists Tanguy Cohen and Michaël Levy.
A headline that would have
“displeased”
This episode occurs just as a charter of independence for the newspaper was about to be signed.
“She is already trampled
,” protested a source close to the editorial staff.
“If Aurélien Viers stays, he will be weakened.
If he leaves, it is an affront to the independence of the editorial staff
,” she adds.
“We will not sign this charter until Aurélien Viers has regained his functions, he has made no mistake
,” adds Audrey Letellier.
“We don't understand, until now we have always worked on good terms with Rodolphe Saadé, this is the first time that there has been such a blow to the independence of the editorial staff.”
The front page of Thursday March 21 gave the floor to residents and certain dealers of the Marseille city after the visit of President Emmanuel Macron to the Castellane district, known for its drug trafficking.
“He left and we are still here,”
headlined the newspaper, quoting two of the people interviewed in the file.
The contested front page of Provence, dated March 21.
Provence
According to our information, Rodolphe Saadé would have summoned the general director of the La Provence group, Gabriel d'Harcourt, to express his disagreement with this choice of front page.
“This famous front page which is causing so much discussion has been validated and sent.
There was no problem for us, but we started to have doubts this morning very early
,” adds another source close to the newspaper.
“I think there is a desire to exit Aurélien Viers because the results are not good enough in the eyes of the shareholder,”
she adds.
“This front page was clearly seen by Gabriel d'Harcourt at 10:35 p.m. Wednesday evening
,” confirms Audrey Letellier, union representative of the SNJ.
A word of apology
A note of apology was published on the front page of this Friday's newspaper, signed
"from the publishing director Gabriel d'Harcourt"
, underlines the letter from the Journalists' Union.
He evokes
“the emotion of many of you”
upon reading the front page of March 21, which
“made people believe that we were complacently giving voice to drug traffickers determined to taunt public authority.”
In a press release sent this afternoon, the group specifies that this treatment
“in no way represents the values and editorial line of Provence”,
before adding:
“This front page misled readers.
It is contrary to journalistic ethics
.
“
If the front page is subject to interpretation, so is this sequence.
We refuse to fall into interpretation and only focus on the facts, nothing but the facts
,” retorts the SNJ in its press release.
“At a time when CMA CGM intends to build a national-scale media hub, this “affair” augurs the worst for all of Whynot Media’s editorial staff, current and future.”