Strike at the "JDD": Arnaud Lagardère defends the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune, before a meeting with the editorial staff

At the end of the meeting, Tuesday June 27 in the morning, of the teams of the Sunday newspaper (JDD), with Arnaud Lagardère, chairman and managing director of the Lagardère group, the editorial staff decided to continue their strike, let it be known in a press release from the Society of Journalists (SDJ) of the weekly. Journalists will meet on Wednesday morning to vote on whether to continue the movement.

The SDJ thus deplores “the maintenance of the decision to appoint Geoffroy Lejeune director of the newspaper”. And to continue: “Arnaud Lagardère did not reassure the editorial staff. He demonstrated his ignorance of the profile of Geoffroy Lejeune, a person whose values ??are in total contradiction with those of the newspaper. »

“Arnaud Lagardère says he will not change his mind about the appointment of Mr. Lejeune, neither will we. But we remain open to the construction of an alternative project without Geoffroy Lejeune, “concludes the SDJ.

An “economic choice”

In an interview with Le Figaro published on Monday, Arnaud Lagardère defended the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune at the head of the weekly. This decision is an “economic choice, and not at all ideological”, justified the main shareholder of the title, whose industrial and media group is gradually absorbed by the Vivendi group, of Vincent Bolloré. “I made this decision alone. Neither Vincent Bolloré nor anyone from Vivendi was involved in this decision.

“This fantasy of the far right that invites itself into our weekly is not real,” said Mr. Lagardère at Le Figaro. In the past, Geoffroy Lejeune – former editorial director of Valeurs Actuelles, supporter of Eric Zemmour in the 2022 presidential election and close to Marion Maréchal – “has moreover received and interviewed the entire political spectrum, from Alexis Corbière to Marine Le Pen, passing by President Emmanuel Macron”, who had given a long interview about immigration to Current Values ??in 2019, anxious to go “on the ground of the adversary”.

“I do not choose Geoffroy with the aim of changing the editorial line, but, of course, the JDD must also know how to adapt to changes in the world, as we have always done in the past”, Arnaud Largardère argued.

A strike decided almost unanimously

The editorial staff of the newspaper renewed Sunday, almost unanimously, its strike until next Wednesday, aimed at preventing the arrival of Geoffroy Lejeune. The movement has received widespread support from the profession and the support of many left-wing politicians, as well as that of the Minister of Culture.

He paralyzed the website, before preventing the release of the paper edition on Sunday, an extremely rare event in the history of the influential weekly, scrutinized in the political world for its Sunday interviews. On Tuesday evening, Reporters Without Borders is organizing an evening in solidarity with JDD journalists, and more broadly, “to defend the editorial independence of the media”.

“Let’s see Geoffroy Lejeune at work and give him some time. My decision is made, ”said Arnaud Lagardère, also ruling out the establishment of an editorial charter or the establishment of a right of veto for members of the editorial staff on the appointment of their director. In recent years, ultra-conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré has been accused of using the media he controls (including CNews and C8 television, Europe 1 radio and Paris Match magazine) to promote his opinions, which he defends.