BFMTV journalists on strike Thursday to defend “the safety” of reporters and “the credibility” of the channel

Journalists from BFMTV went on strike on Thursday, November 5, the day of the demonstration against the high cost of living, to defend "the safety" of reporters and "the credibility" of the channel, in the midst of turmoil after being accused of relaying racist remarks, they announced on social networks. “We care about the image of our channel, which we love, which has been degraded in recent weeks. Management does not seem to have heard the fears expressed by a large majority of the editorial staff, the teams who work for the channel,” wrote several journalists in their text.

Asked by AFP, management did not react immediately. No strike participation figures were available. Since the start of the week, some 400 journalists and technicians have signed open letters to management to denounce a “trivialization of certain racist remarks” on the air.

Journalists attacked in the field

During the demonstrations in France and after the Trappes attack, the news channel was accused by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and LFI of relaying racist remarks, in particular by inviting far-right leader Éric Zemmour (Reconquête), which it strongly contested. Some of its journalists were attacked on the ground. These external accusations echoed internal criticism of journalist Sonia Mabrouk, who arrived this summer from CNews, a channel owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

On Wednesday, in an open letter, more than 200 journalists asked management for “concrete measures” to “cut away from this image of a racist channel”. Certain measures have already been announced by the management of CMA Media, the group to which BFMTV and RMC radio belong.