“Apolline matin”: RMC morning show disrupted by the strike

This Thursday, November 5, 2026, the unions called on employees and civil servants to strike for their salaries. Among them, technicians from the RMC BFM group decided to follow the movement by stepping back. As a result, “Apolline matin”, the radio station’s morning show presented by Apolline de Malherbe, was not broadcast on RMC Story. “Due to the national strike movement called by several unions, RMC Story programs are currently disrupted. Please forgive us. “Apolline matin” can be followed in full without incident on the radio on RMC,” warned the RMC Inside account in a message published on X at 7:50 a.m.

Despite the disruptions, Apolline de Malherbe was able to complete her program and the interview with Marylise Léon, general secretary of the CFDT, was broadcast as usual on BFMTV. RMC Story programs resumed normally at 9 a.m. with “Les Grandes Gueules”.

At the same time, journalists from the 24-hour news channel have been calling for measures for several days. “We want to rediscover the pride of working for BFMTV and no longer fear giving the name of our media in reporting or even in our private life,” wrote the SDJ (Society of Journalists) in a letter to management signed by more than 200 journalists and consulted by AFP. They point the finger at “editorial abuses” on their channel. “We are concerned about the trivialization of certain racist or discriminatory remarks on our channel, sometimes relativized in the name of pluralism. Racist remarks constitute crimes, and our impartiality must never be confused with complacency,” they add.

Two other letters were sent to management. One at the start of the week, signed by 160 technicians from the group, and the other on Wednesday afternoon by the local BFMTV channels. By hosting Éric Zemmour in “100% Mabrouk”, BFMTV attracted the wrath of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and La France insoumise. They accuse the channel of relaying racist remarks.

In their letter, which follows a general meeting on Monday, the journalists ask management for “concrete measures” to “cut away from this image of a racist channel which absolutely does not represent [their] convictions”. Among them, a “systematic and unequivocal reframing of discriminatory remarks by the presenters”, and “better monitoring of guests to avoid problematic personalities, but also the overly recurrent presence of some”. The editorial staff is also calling for more reporting and less debate.

In response, the management of CMA Media, the group to which BFMTV and RMC radio belong, announced several measures. In particular a “guest unit” to centralize requests for interviews with political leaders and reinforce “the diversity of profiles” and “the monthly publication of a barometer of pluralism” of the antennas to “reflect the diversity of guests, speakers and currents of thought”.

These decisions “constitute neither a change of editorial line nor a recognition of the accusations made against our antennas but testify to the desire to defend our channels, unfairly questioned”, underlined in this message Jean-Philippe Baille, deputy general director for information of CMA Media. “I firmly contest the accusations insinuating that our channels trivialize racism,” he insisted. Receiving a personality does not mean sharing their beliefs or endorsing their comments. Our responsibility is to question him, to verify his assertions and, if necessary, to contradict him with the facts,” he argued.