Mobilizations and collective actions
“The owner of the newspaper wants to be able to impose his candidate as editorial director even against the editorial staff’s opinion. This constitutes a serious threat to Les Echos’ independence," warned the newspaper’s Journalists’ Society (SDJ) in a statement on June 1, 2023, which also announced a strike by its journalists voted at 98%. The reason: the dismissal of its editorial director Nicolas Barré, possibly removed due to a series of articles displeasing the shareholder Bernard Arnault, including one published on the Les Echos website regarding tax raids at the LVMH group, owned by the businessman. The SDJ denounced a form of interference and recalled that "the newspaper must be able to cover all subjects, including those concerning the shareholder." After 24 hours of strike, journalists resumed work.
More recently, in early March, 11,000 km away, the ultraliberal Argentine president Javier Millei shut down the famous Argentine news agency Télam. With a simple email, the 770 employees were informed they were no longer required to come to work. Access to the company’s premises was blocked by a police barricade and the agency’s website was turned into a blank page. "In this case, not only are the rights of the professionals working at Télam violated, but it is an attack on all citizens, who are deprived of access to pluralistic and diverse information, which is part of human and citizen rights," said the newspaper Pagina12. For Tomás Eliaschev, union delegate at Télam, "this is an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression in Argentina. We have not seen anything like this in recent decades," he told BBC Mundo. On March 4, local journalists, unions, political representatives, and social organizations also protested in front of the agency’s editorial office. These mobilizations are a way for journalists to pressure their management to reconsider their practices. These actions also help raise public awareness about the issues affecting their profession. However, as illustrated by each case above, the views of shareholders or political leaders have ultimately prevailed over those of the journalists.
From journalists’ societies to union actions
The SDJ (Société des Journalistes) or SDR (Société des Rédacteurs) are associations grouping journalists from the same newsroom. Their mission is to represent their colleagues before management. As recalled in a recent statement by the SDJ of BFM, upon the announcement of its acquisition by the CMA-CGM group, it expected "a double guarantee: real editorial freedom, and investments in the resources of BFMTV and other group entities." Journalists’ Societies may also implement ethical charters, such as Le Monde’s 2023 charter, committing them to better coverage of climate and environmental topics.
Originating in France, SDJs have spread to neighboring countries such as Switzerland (La Liberté) and Belgium (Le Soir, La Libre Belgique...). They act as guardians of press freedom, ensuring journalists can work without undue interference from management or external actors. This is evidenced by a statement signed in April 2023 by multiple sector actors when a Paris Match journalist was summoned to a pre-dismissal interview because her SDJ opposed an editorial by Patrick Mahé, the editorial director. The statement was clear: "We, journalists from 40 journalists’ and editors’ societies, express our full solidarity with the Paris Match journalists facing a series of unacceptable attacks against their SDJ."
To defend journalists’ interests, unions (CGT, CFDT, FO...) also exist, mainly addressing working conditions, salaries, job security, etc. They often operate at the national or sectoral level to negotiate with employers and governments. The best known in France remains the National Syndicate of Journalists (SNJ), which on March 16 last issued a motion "against media empires" to support the newsrooms of BFM and RMC after their acquisition by shipping magnate Rodolphe Saadé, demanding "the maintenance of the company’s staff, which includes over 900 journalists, and the preservation of its company agreements by the future shareholder."
Internationally, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is the world’s largest organization representing 600,000 media professionals from 187 unions and associations in more than 140 countries. Founded in 1926, the IFJ speaks for journalists within the United Nations system and the international labor movement.
Financial independence as a shield?
Being financially independent to be editorially independent? This question has been posed to many newsrooms. Often considered a model, the British title The Guardian adopted a nearly unique financial model based on donations, subscriptions, and grants. Since 1936, the newspaper has been backed by the “Scott Trust,” a fund worth over one billion euros (2019), designed to ensure the Guardian’s financial and editorial independence for life. On one condition: the daily must not deviate from its progressive line. This model, often envied, is hard to replicate because it relies on a long tradition and a highly engaged readership. One French outlet appears to be an exception: Mediapart.
Cofounded by Edwy Plenel, who just stepped down as chairman, this investigative online newspaper is often cited for its independent economic model, mainly based on reader subscriptions, with founders retaining capital ownership. "Launching a paid investigative site that belongs only to its readers" is Mediapart’s promise in its statement of intent. The founders commit to absolute economic independence. According to them, "paid membership is the only way to guarantee editorial quality and true independence to the reader. This economic choice is therefore also political: it is the challenge of a battle of opinion about the cost of quality, independent, and rigorous information, which requires resources, especially human."
Reader financing can offer some protection. This is the case for the scientific magazine Epsiloon. Its editor-in-chief Hervé Poirier, formerly a journalist at Science & Vie, left the editorial team with some colleagues over editorial independence issues. When founding this magazine, they made a promise: to place readers at the heart of the model. Today, according to Epsiloon, 95% of the magazine’s revenue comes from subscriptions.
The legal path
Legislators also intend to play a role in guaranteeing editorial independence. Whether Antoine Deltour, a key figure in the “Luxembourg Leaks,” Edward Snowden, who exposed the NSA spying scandal in the United States, or Frances Haugen, the whistleblower behind the “Facebook Files,” their actions have continually fueled the debate on whistleblower protection. In France, laws have been adopted to guarantee their security and, by extension, preserve journalists’ editorial freedom when they rely on whistleblowers as sources. Examples include the Sapin II law in 2016 and the Waserman law of 2022, which strengthened it.
In Europe, the European Media Freedom Act, the EU law on media freedom, was adopted on March 13. Member states will be required to protect media independence and prohibit any form of intervention in editorial decisions. According to Ramona Strugariu, rapporteur for the freedoms committee: “Journalists now have an ally, a set of tools that protect them, strengthen their independence, and help them face the challenges, interferences, and pressures they often encounter in their work.”
Facing political, economic, and technological pressures that can threaten the free flow of information, protecting editorial independence remains a priority for governments. Both in France and abroad, initiatives are underway to strengthen these protections and promote free and responsible journalism. In France, the General Information Assembly launched on October 3, 2023 aims to propose concrete action plans by summer 2024. According to media sociologist Jean-Marie Charon, “priorities should focus on newsroom independence — the law on media concentration is too often circumvented.”
