The daily newspaper “La Provence” adopts a charter of editorial independence

Journalists’ unions and the daily’s management Provence, held by the shipowner CMA CGM, signed on Thursday June 27 a “charter of editorial independence and ethics” which guarantees in particular the protection of journalists with regard to “any form of pressure”.

The preamble to the charter specifies that the regional newspaper guarantees its readers that the information produced is “reflecting verified, impartial, nuanced news coverage independent of any political, economic, cultural or personal interest”.

The charter was signed by the chairwoman of the board of directors of Provencethe group’s general director and the journalists’ unions “in accordance with the commitment made when the newspaper was bought” in 2022, said Provence in a press release.

The signing of this charter comes three months after a strike triggered by the dismissal of the newspaper’s editorial director, Aurélien Viers, after a headline on a visit by Emmanuel Macron to Marseille judged ” ambiguous “ by management. He was later reinstated following the journalists’ protest movement.

The new charter provides in particular “an editorial vote on the editorial project” in the case of the appointment of a new editorial director. Work on this charter has been underway since the takeover, in 2022, of the La Provence Group by CMA CGM, owned by billionaire Rodolphe Saadé.

“The episode on the front page that we experienced made us see the urgency of quickly getting back around the table” in order to adopt this charter which “in the future, if such an incident recurred, it would allow us to emerge from the crisis in the best possible way”explained Audrey Letellier, SNJ union representative, to Agence France-Presse.

The text states that shareholders must be “treated according to a principle of strict equality with respect to any other economic, financial or political actor”. And “editorial independence and ethics committee”notably composed of three external personalities recognized for their independence and their media expertise, must be created.

The charter must guarantee to readers that “The newspaper they have in their hands is written by journalists who are totally independent of all powers”therefore providing “the most accurate, most impartial information”summarized M.^me Letellier.

After taking over the La Provence Group in 2022, Mr. Saadé took a stake in M6, bought The gallery and announced in March that it wanted to buy Altice Media, parent company of BFM-TV, in particular.