Radio France staff strike over appointment of conservative magazine editor

Trade unions at the public broadcaster accuse Sapin of espousing far-right ideas and are demanding that his weekly column be removed from the station's schedule.

The first disruption came on Sunday morning, when Sapin's commentary – normally broadcast at around 7.40am – was taken off air. France Inter's other morning programmes were also replaced by music.

“Due to a call for strike action issued by all the trade union organisations representing Radio France, demanding the removal from France Inter's airwaves of a political editorial by the deputy editor-in-chief of Valeurs actuelles, we are unable to broadcast our usual programmes in full,” a message to listeners said.

Morning programmes on franceinfo and France Culture, two other stations in the Radio France group, went ahead as scheduled.

The coalition behind the strike – CFDT, CGT, FO, SNJ, SUD and Unsa – also called for a rally outside the Maison de la Radio, the group's Paris headquarters, on Sunday afternoon.

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Appointment prompts wider backlash

Sapin joined Valeurs actuelles as deputy editor-in-chief this summer after leaving the weekly magazine Le Point. Since 30 August, he has delivered a short political commentary on France Inter's Sunday morning schedule.

Management has defended the appointment as part of efforts to ensure a range of political viewpoints is represented ahead of France's presidential election.

However, staff immediately challenged the decision. In a motion adopted on 2 September, employees expressed their “categorical refusal”, arguing that Valeurs actuelles was “incompatible” with public service broadcasting.

The magazine describes itself as conservative but has repeatedly courted controversy. It was convicted following the publication in 2020 of a fictional story depicting Danièle Obono, a Black MP from the left-wing France Unbowed party, as an enslaved person.

Unions have also highlighted the presence among its shareholders of billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, who has close links to France's far right.

The dispute widened on Saturday when around 300 public figures signed an opinion piece in Le Parisien describing Sapin's appointment as “outrageous”.

The signatories included actresses Julie Gayet, Ariane Ascaride and Corinne Masiero, singer Lio and Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux.

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Pluralism becomes political battleground

France Inter director Céline Pigalle has continued to defend the appointment, telling Radio France's ombudswoman on Thursday that political pluralism was “fundamental” for a public radio station.

She pointed to the arrival of other columnists from publications with differing editorial positions, including Le Nouvel Obs, Alternatives économiques and the Financial Times.

Pigalle added that Sapin had told her he joined Valeurs actuelles to change its editorial direction.

“I believe I can trust him not to jeopardise France Inter's broadcasting,” she said.

With the presidential election only months away, the dispute has taken on a wider political dimension. France Unbowed leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon described Sapin's appointment as a “takeover by the fascists”, while Bruno Retailleau of the conservative Les Republicains accused Radio France's editorial teams of “sectarianism”.

Sapin's arrival as a contributor to the franceinfo television channel has also been challenged by unions at France Télévisions.

The broader question of political balance in French public broadcasting has been hotly debated since last year. Claims that public broadcasters favour the left led the UDR, a party allied with the far-right National Rally, to establish a parliamentary committee of inquiry.

Its rapporteur, MP Charles Alloncle, is due to publish a book about the committee's work on 30 September through Fayard, a publishing house owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

(with newswires)