Starting at 11 a.m., journalists from Ici Azur and France 3 Côte d’Azur gathered at Place Masséna. The objective: to protest against the public broadcasting holding project.
“Rachida, get out! Rachida, get out!” On this Monday, June 30, under the intense heat of the Azure Coast, tensions are rising at Place Masséna. The editorial teams of Ici Azur and France 3 Côte d’Azur have gone on strike and are determined to make their anger heard. The reason being the public broadcasting reform project led by Rachida Dati, the Minister of Culture.
Sébastien Germain: “an audiovisual dictatorship”
“The profession is being demeaned and insulted by Rachida Dati. We have a minister who wants to harm public broadcasting. It’s simply an audiovisual dictatorship.” Leading a group of about sixty journalists and unionists, Sébastien Germain protests. The morning presenter on Ici Azur and France 3 Côte d’Azur expresses his disagreement with the Minister of Culture. She is determined to implement a project aimed at modernizing public broadcasting by uniting it to collectively confront digital giants like Amazon or Netflix.
“In a state governed by law, if you want to preserve broadcasting, you must rally forces,” she stated in January 2024 on France Inter. However, the risks highlighted by the Azure journalists are numerous: “we will no longer be independent and we will have to obey the whims of people who have no idea what they’re doing. Our local programs are threatened. And who knows, maybe we’ll lose our jobs!“, exclaims Gilles, wearing a vest from the CGT.
Two demonstrations in three months
Ici Azur and France 3 Côte d’Azur are no strangers to this. On April 2nd, the two editorial teams had already gathered for the same reasons. “It is crucial for us to gather in a public place and for people to see us“, breathes Sébastien Germain. The fifty-year-old, also the CGT representative of the Nice station, points to the creation modalities of the France Médias holding, slated for 2025.
It would bring together four main entities: France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde, and INA. The holding would be entirely owned by the state, with a single CEO appointed for five years by ARCOM, according to a nomination committee.
By January 1, 2026, a potential merger into a single company is envisioned, maintaining France Médias Monde. For Frédéric Richirt, a musician at the Opéra de Nice and unionist, this measure is anything but feasible: “can you imagine if one single person had to take care of France 2, France 3, France Bleu, France Inter, and France Info? It would be total chaos,” he sighs in despair.
