ON DECRYPT
Nearly 200 out of 330 journalists leave Mondadori France. Among the most famous titles concerned: Grazia, Clother, Top health, TV Star , Autoplus , Science and life or The French hunter . The reason for these mass departures? The purchase of all these newspapers by the French group Reworld.
The majority of journalists have activated their "assignment clause", a provision allowing journalists to leave their company with compensation in case of change of ownership. At Top Santé, it's even the entire editorial team that decided to leave. How to explain the extent of the hecatomb? The question was put to Yves Corteville, SNJ-CGT union delegate and editorial secretary at Full Life , another title of the group, and to Pascal Pennec, now former editor-in-chief of Autoplus, invited by Philippe Vandel in Culture Media, on Europe 1.
"It's a leap into the unknown"
"This is a huge crisis, this confidence," says Yves Corteville. "When we learned a year ago that Reworld wanted to buy the band, nobody knew them, they had about ten titles, we did a little investigation, and we realized that they were making titles by outside companies, content producers, they boasted of converting for advertisers ... The goal: to make content to attract advertisers. [...] There is a difference with journalism, it's not the same job, "says Yves Corteville.
"When they knew this, the reporters said to themselves, 'What am I going to do with it?' [...] We did not get any guarantee, they told us, 'You'll see after , trust us, "says the editorial secretary.
"It's a leap into the unknown," continues Pascal Pennec, former Autoplus. "In the press, there were murder papers (on Reworld ed.) I remember an article in Libération that said, 'Never worked for these people'," he continues. Once the repurchase started, the journalists had only two months to activate their clause cession. "In doubt, given the liabilities of these people, we thought that the only solution was to leave," says Pascal Pennec.
"If they leave, it's because they're scared"
Some observers also mention another potential reason for the departure of journalists: the relocation of newsrooms to Bagneux, in an area where, for the time being, there is no metro line and almost no business. Yves Corteville formally denies this assumption, just as he denies the amount of compensation that would have, according to some press articles, perceived journalists on the departure. The amount of 300,000 euros is mentioned. "It's a joke when Gautier Normand (Reworld's CEO) says this is to get reporters out for spoiled kids, you think people who have been working for a title for 20 years go out with a check If they leave, it's because they are scared to stay for a title in which they do not trust, "the trade unionist tackles.
Employees and observers are now questioning the ability of the remaining journalists to feed the group's newspapers. Some salary representatives also alerted the Minister of Culture Frank Riester, who has not yet received them in person. "We are not the press that makes the news according to them, not the priority press," denounces Yves Corteville. The latter is now asking the government to condition the potential assistance that the group, as a press publisher, can receive to respect a "code of ethics". The goal is to ensure that journalists are not asked to advertise.