In the country of strikes, the one carried out for forty days last summer by the employees of Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD) was an exceptional case, a political battle in which much more than the trend of a newspaper was at stake. Sunday. France witnessed a conflict that symbolized resistance to a media discourse that is pushing the electorate towards positions of the hard right and the extreme right.
The new owners of JDD – the Vivendi group, with the magnate Vincent Bolloré at the head – finally managed to impose Geoffrey Lejeune, a young journalist very inclined towards ultra approaches, as director. A large part of the staff chose to leave the newspaper because they knew what was coming to them, a total purge in the editorial team and a spectacular change in the editorial line.
The rise of the far right in France is not a recent phenomenon, but the trend is accelerating and could have very serious consequences for the continent. In the European domino of the ultra boom, the threat of destabilization will be considerable if the French piece also falls.
There are various reasons that explain what is happening: massive and poorly integrated immigration, the colonial legacy, frequent Islamist attacks, physical and cultural insecurity, impoverishment and precariousness of the lower-middle and working class and the crisis of political parties. of traditional government. In the French case, there is also another factor that encourages the penetration of the postulates of the extreme right. The media controlled by Bolloré (along with Le Journal du Dimanche, the stations CNews, Canal, Radio Europe 1, the magazines Paris Match, Gala, Capital and others) saturate the audience with messages that reinforce prejudices against immigration and Islam, exacerbate the feeling of insecurity and anguish in the face of a supposedly endangered future of traditional, Christian France.
Bolloré’s media is very careful not to bet openly on a specific match. The 71-year-old businessman of Breton origin, a traditionalist Catholic and close friend of former President Sarkozy, played various political cards in the past to have good communication channels and preserve his interests. The main objective is to promote certain values, of a nationalist, identity-based and very conservative nature. And it so happens that these principles largely coincide with those defended by the right wing of The Republicans (LR, neo-Gaullist right), the National Regroupment (RN, of Marine Le Pen) and Reconquista, the party founded by Éric Zemmour. .
Bolloré has been compared to Rupert Murdoch in the Anglo-Saxon world. In fact, the continuous news station CNews is playing a role similar to that played by Fox News years ago in the United States in paving the way to power for Donald Trump. According to Le Monde, which is at the ideological antipodes of Bolloré, this industrialist is “the godfather of an alliance between the right and the extreme right.” In an editorial, the weekly Marianne wrote that “the real danger of Vincent Bolloré’s project is the polarization that it imposes on public debate.”
CNews bet heavily, at the time, on Zemmour, but the experiment did not work. It turned out to be too xenophobic and reactionary. The strategy has evolved. The magnate observes with interest the case of Giorgia Meloni in Italy, at the head of a coalition of the right and the extreme right, very anti-immigration, although at the same time pro-European and with total loyalty to NATO.
Macron and Bolloré have had a difficult relationship in recent years. The businessman’s accumulation of influence over public opinion has not pleased the Elysée at all. The president’s worst nightmare would be having to transfer power to the extreme right when he finishes his second term, in 2027, just as Obama had to give up the White House to Trump in 2017.
Le Monde revealed a secret meeting between Macron and Bolloré, in the middle of last September, to achieve coexistence and avoid mutual damage. The businessman needed the president’s help in Vivendi’s dispute with the European Commission over the legality of the purchase of the Lagardère group. In return, Paris Match would have made a very kind portrait of the first lady, Brigitte Macron, in its November 16 issue (cover and ten inside pages of splendid photos).
It remains to be seen how long the truce will last. The European elections in June will measure the strength of the extreme right, which has a solid lead, according to polls. Bolloré’s media are already working at full capacity in a great ideological and cultural battle whose objective goes beyond specific elections and pursues a lasting transformation of the political landscape and dominant values.
