France-Antilles was placed this Thursday in liquidation without continuation of activities, meaning that Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana will become the only regions of France without daily newspaper, announced the mixed commercial court of Fort-de- France.
The France-Antilles group, in receivership since June 25, 2019, employed 235 employees in three separate editions in the three overseas departments. Formerly a subsidiary of the Hersant group, the daily was created in March 1964 on the occasion of the official visit of President Charles de Gaulle to Martinique and on February 18, 1965 in Guadeloupe. Only the radio subsidiaries of the three editions are sold to a buyer.
"It is a part of the heritage of the Antilles which is disappearing and a little democracy which is collapsing", reacted France-Antilles Guadeloupe. "On the social level, it is a real earthquake with 235 employees from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana who lose their jobs", continues the newspaper.
235 redundant employees
In their Thursday morning front page, the employees had already expressed their pessimism: "Dear readers, you may have in your hands the latest edition of your France-Antilles newspaper , created in 1965".
Sad poster ... #FranceAntilles #guadeloupe #PQR pic.twitter.com/cAepwFikb2
- Christelle Carmona (@CarmonaChr) January 29, 2020The newspaper anticipated the decision of the commercial court of Fort-de-France to liquidate its publishing company owned by AJR Participations, the company of Aude Jacques-Ruettard, the majority shareholder of the newspaper and granddaughter of the press owner Robert Hersant.
"The West Indies and Guyana will be the first and therefore the only regions of France to be deprived of a daily newspaper", continues the daily in one. He also underlines "the social cataclysm" which "throws 235 employees and their families, from Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana" into the street.
“Let us hope that this disappearance strengthens the will of the citizens of Guadeloupe to fight even more for the maintenance and development of local media having only the concern of the dissemination of plural, verified and verifiable information. »Pic.twitter.com/mAI4t9UIW8
- Christelle Carmona (@CarmonaChr) January 30, 2020 Dear readers, You have in your hands the one or one of the last editions of your newspaper France-Antilles created in 1964. The commercial court of Fort-de-France should pronounce, this morning, the liquidation of its publishing company owned by AJR Participations.
Also, the Antilles and Guyana will be the first and therefore the only regions of France to be deprived of a daily newspaper. But beyond this sad first, the record, and probably the only one to really remember, is that of the social cataclysm that throws 235 employees and their families into the streets of Martinique, Guadeloupe and Guyana. A section of the heritage of the Martinican press and one of the key markers of the identity of our country are collapsing. Let us hope that this disappearance strengthens the will of the citizens of Martinique to fight even more for the maintenance and the development of local media having only the concern of a diffusion of plural information verified and verifiable.
Writing
Sadness after six months of waiting
The commercial court had left until Wednesday evening (Martinique time) for the shareholder to provide "the additional elements related to the financial closure" of its takeover offer, presented on January 14th. But AJR Participations failed to complete its financing plan. Several employees, journalists and readers of the daily expressed their emotion on social networks:
More than six months of ordeal, tensions, doubts and twists and turns, which ended for the employees. On a funny taste.
- Amandine Ascensio (@Aascensio) January 30, 2020The ultimate front page from France-Antilles. The adventure stops for the daily life of the Antilles-Guyana. Ten years of my life as a journalist. Immense sadness #press #pqr #journalist #outremer pic.twitter.com/eP9I7305B7
- Céline Guiral (@ClineGuiral) January 30, 2020France Antilles is like Air France, La Poste or RFO, they irritate us, we criticize them, we will even look elsewhere ... but the idea that they disappear from our life in the Antilles is unbearable to us and yet! France Antilles liquidated, I can't believe it!
- Gilles Gressier (@GillesGressier) January 30, 2020 France-Antilles is no more.
My first internship experience in journalism.
The liquidation of the only daily newspaper in the Antilles-Guyana puts 235 employees on the street ...
Sad news pic.twitter.com/nBZTjQ35WJ
Naively I really thought that France Antilles was going to find a buyer ..... I regret that we did not move + that to not let our newspaper die.
- Mind over matter (@PetitArcEnCiiel) January 30, 2020 Mayotte has not had a printed daily for 5 years so the death of France Antilles is unfortunately not a first in France.
Courage to former employees
Support announced by the State
In a joint press release, the Ministers of Cuture and Overseas, Franck Riester and Annick Girardin, announce that they “will follow with the greatest attention the social consequences of this judicial liquidation and the support which will be brought to 250 employees of the France-Antilles group ”. "They reaffirm their mobilization so that there exists a local press in the Antilles and in Guyana and more generally to support all the initiatives which could contribute to bring to life the pluralism of the press and information in the overseas territories", they add.
The shareholder had to find an additional 1.3 million euros, the State having granted aid of three million to add to the other three million euros from investors.
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- West Indies
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