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French paper ends strike as far-right editor takes helm

Journalists at France's sole dedicated Sunday newspaper announced on Tuesday they were halting one of the longest strikes in the recent history of French media, on the day a controversial editor aligned with the far right took up his post as editor in chief.

Published: 1 August 2023 16:01 CEST
French paper ends strike as far-right editor takes helm
The logo of French weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) (Photo by Martin LELIEVRE / AFP)

Journal du Dimanche (JDD) staff said they were throwing in the towel aware that their decision would mean that they would either leave the paper or have to work under its new leadership.

The strike since June 22nd over over the appointment of Geoffroy Lejeune, 34, as new editor-in-chief has meant that the influential weekly has now missed six consecutive issues.

The JDD’s SDJ journalists’ association said that agreement had been reached with the paper’s owners, the media arm of French conglomerate Lagardere Group, for the strike to end.

It acknowledged staff “would not have won” a prolonged standoff with Lagardere.

Lejeune was until recently editor of the far-right weekly Valeurs Actuelles and endorsed far-right media commentator Eric Zemmour during his campaign for the presidency last year.

“Today, Geoffroy Lejeune is taking up his post. He will walk into an empty newsroom. Dozens of journalists are refusing to work with him and must leave the JDD,” it said.

“In the next hours we will be confronted with a painful dilemma — to stay or to go,” it added.

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said the action — which lasted 40 days — was the longest strike in French media since a 28-month strike by staff on Le Parisien daily that began in 1975.

Lagardere said in a statement that the JDD’s website would return on Tuesday and the print edition from the middle of the month.

“The agreement also provides for the setting up of support measures for journalists who wish to leave the editorial staff,” added the group.

The controversy has erupted as conservative billionaire Vincent Bollore is in the process of acquiring Lagardere Group, which also owns Paris Match magazine and Europe 1 radio, after a successful takeover bid.

Bollore, a conservative Catholic from northwest France, has been gradually expanding his empire to take in TV channels and now print media.

The JDD, which has weekly sales of around 140,000, has in recent years toed a centrist line and been seen as generally sympathetic to the government of President Emmanuel Macron.

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READER QUESTION

Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

If you live in France you will have a local representative in parliament - but can you approach them for help if you have a problem? Here's how the député system works.

Published: 24 May 2024 15:49 CEST
Reader question: Can I approach my French deputé for help? 

There are 557 députés (MPs) in France’s Assemblée nationale – of whom 362 are men and 215 are women. 

They are elected on a constituency (circonscription) basis, so every area of France has its ‘local’ representative in parliament – you can look up yours here.

Officially however, French MPs are invested with a national mandate – effectively, France is their constituency. They are, therefore, expected to act in what they believe are the best interests of the whole country at all times – not just the interest of their local area.

National mandate 

“MPs in France are not mouthpieces for their voters,” the Assemblée nationale website declares, “they act for themselves in relation to their vision of the general interest.”

It goes on to insist that MPs, “cannot be prisoners of local or sectional interests” – meaning that they should not be persuaded to vote in a particular way by outside parties, whether that is businesses/ monied individuals/ lobbyists – or their own voters. 

It’s a Revolutionary ideal that has its origins in article three of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, from August 26th, 1789: “The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body, no individual can exercise authority that does not emanate expressly from it.”

And the French Constitution states: “national sovereignty belongs to the people, who exercise it through their representatives”.

Basically, it means that deputies represent the entire nation and not just voters in their constituency.

READ ALSO OPINION: How to be loved by the French electorate? Retire or die

In reality, of course, MPs are influenced by what matters to their constituents – so for example an MP elected in a rural area might be more likely to back laws that protect farmers. 

And it’s not just MPs – the recent unsuccessful attempts to ease post-Brexit rules for British second-home owners were proposed by Senators who have constituencies in south-west France and the Alps; areas well known for having a high number of second homes.

Nonetheless, the theory is of ‘national’ MPs.

Meeting the locals

Crucially, however, this does not mean that – once elected – MPs do not meet residents in the constituencies that elected them and discuss local issues. Quite the opposite.

Constituents can contact their député to discuss ideas and concerns. In fact, your local MP – with their national mandate – is easy to get in touch with. You can find their official assembly email address here, along with where they sit in the hemisphere and what they have recently been up to in parliament, by searching for your commune or département.

In theory, that national mandate means you could contact any of France’s 577 MPs for assistance. But it makes sense to seek out the ones the electorate in your area voted for, because it means they should have a handle on any local issues and angles.

If you already know the name of your friendly neighbourhood MP, you could search for them on social media, and contact them that way; while many – but by no means all – have their own website, with additional contact details. 

So, generally, you can get hold of your French MP easily enough. They hold office hours, organise public meetings, respond to numerous requests for assistance and advice, and channel the concerns of their constituents to national decision-making bodies.

It is part of their job to help you if they can.

You may also bump into them at events in the local area such as summer fêstivals, the Fête de la musique or more formal events such as the Armistice Day commemorations or the July 14th celebrations. Politicians like to get involved in local events to either remain part of the community or to persuade people to re-elect them (take your pick).

At formal events they will be wearing a tricolore sash and you will be able to tell them apart from the local mayor by which way up they wear their sashes (honestly, this is true).

Mairie

Sometimes their help will involve pointing you in the direction of your local mairie – which may be better at dealing with more practical matters.

In fact, for many local issues, the mairie should be your first port of call – or possibly the préfecture. France has several layers of local government and they have quite far-reaching powers – especially local mayors.

For this reason, it’s more usual to first approach the mairie rather than your MP if you have a problem – but there’s nothing to stop you approaching your MP instead.

The convenient truth is that French MPs do not work just in the ivory tower of the Palais Bourbon.

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