Frédéric Taddeï replaces Natacha Polony at the head of the weekly Marianne (CMI France group) (AFP / JOEL SAGET)
The CMI France group, owned by Czech magnate Daniel Kretinsky, announced on Thursday that it would not sell the weekly Marianne and appointed Frédéric Taddeï as its head, replacing Natacha Polony, according to a press release.
The group “is committed to maintaining with Marianne a weekly which defends republican, social and secular values”, he assures. In July, CMI France ceased discussions for a takeover by the conservative billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin, then in November those initiated with the entrepreneur Jean-Martial Lefranc.
“Taking note of the difficulties in finding an external takeover solution for Marianne, and particularly concerned about guaranteeing the sustainability of the title, Natacha Polony indicated that she was not part of the future management of the newspaper,” explains CMI France. The journalist and essayist, who has been in office since 2018, will maintain a weekly editorial.
Frédéric Taddeï will take office on March 1.
On television, he notably hosted the talk show “Ce soir (ou Jam!)” on France 3 then France 2 between 2006 and 2016. Since 2005, he has been on radio Europe 1, now controlled by the conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré.
He also hosted the show “Interdit d’interdiction” on the RT France channel, the French branch of the Russian channel RT. He had decided to stop the presentation at the beginning of 2022, citing “loyalty to (his) country”, in the context of the war in Ukraine. Since then, RT, accused of spreading propaganda for Russia, has been banned in the European Union, and RT France had to close following the freezing of its assets.
“Frédéric Taddeï, recognized cultural agitator, heir to Jean-François Bizot, and whose appointment is approved by Jean-François Kahn”, co-founder of Marianne in 1997, “will bring his originality, his taste for pluralism and his love of debate”, according to Denis Olivennes, chairman of the supervisory board of CMI France.
In recent years, Marianne has defended an editorial line that is sovereignist, pro-secular, anti-liberal in economics and critical of the elites. It is this tone that prompted Daniel Kretinsky, liberal in economics and in favor of European construction, to want to separate from the magazine, in his fold since 2018.
Mr. Kretinsky owns the press titles Elle, Télé 7 Jours, Franc-Tireur, Ici Paris, and again France Dimanche, as well as the number two French publishing company, Editis.
