"Science & life", or journalism in danger
Audio 02:32
Cover of an issue of the magazine "Science et vie" from January 1947. Getty Images - Apic
By: Amaury de Rochegonde Follow
6 mins
The monthly magazine
Science & Vie
has just seen the majority of its incumbent journalists resign in protest against the policies of its new shareholder, Reworld.
Publicity
It has become, in the eyes of economist Julia Cagé, professor at Sciences Po, a textbook case of what she calls "
journalism without journalists
".
Earlier this week, this popular science magazine more than a hundred years old, since it was born in 1913, saw nine of its journalists - five incumbents and four freelancers - resign, a very large part of the editorial staff which now has eight journalists. incumbents, including the editor.
There are many reasons given since the acquisition of
Science & Vie,
in 2019, by Reworld Media.
First, the decline in staff, but also a management and a chief editorial staff without scientific expertise, the use of non-journalist content managers or external agencies for special issues.
Reworld is a group that has great expertise on the internet, but it does not hesitate to highlight content rather than others on purely commercial criteria, based on the commercial performance of links.
Moreover, its profitability was further strengthened in 2020. To do this, there is no need for journalists or independence, in particular on the web where the famous content managers work.
"You have to live with the times"
The press card and the rights of conscience associated with it are a thing of the past, according to Pascal Chevalier, the boss of Reworld.
The press card?
"
It's all over, you have to live with the times,
" he told CB News in February.
The editorial staff of
Science & Vie has
seen its workforce decline: 29 journalists at the time of the takeover, 19 a year later, 8 today.
When it bought eight Lagardère titles in 2014, Reworld had increased their editorial staff from 150 to 9 journalists
The shareholder can earn money, but information, especially scientific information, loses.
Boring in these times of health crisis.
Suddenly to guarantee the information which is, she recalls, a "
public good
", Julia Cagé proposes to condition to the employment of journalists the public aid to the press, from which Reworld benefits, - for example VAT or advantageous postal rates.
What is certain is that we cannot let the Internet user arbitrate alone.
Since the beginning of April, European data protection regulations have required them to give them the choice on the screen, when they arrive on a site, between accepting or rejecting advertisements.
If he disagrees with the policy of a newspaper publisher, will the Internet user refuse to validate an advertising model?
Well, that's unlikely.
Moreover, Reworld will still be able to offer branded content that is not quite advertising.
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