CMI France formalized, this Thursday, December 19, 2024, the appointment from March 1, 2025 – date of the creation of CMI TV – of Frédéric Taddeï to the management of the weekly, confirming information from “La Lettre”. The arrival of the former presenter of “Ce Soir ou Jam” on France Télévisions follows the decision of Natacha Polony to give up the functions of editorial director which she has held since the purchase of the title by Daniel Kretinsky in 2018. “Taking note of the difficulties in finding an external recovery solution for ‘Marianne’, and particularly concerned about guaranteeing the sustainability of the title, Natacha Polony indicated that she would not be part of the future management of the newspaper.“, indicates the group. The journalist will maintain a weekly editorial.
After the disappointments of Stérin and Lefranc, Kretinsky gives up on the sale
In this press release, we also learn that the Czech billionaire will ultimately remain the owner of the title that he has been seeking to sell since the beginning of 2024, due to no longer being in phase with his sovereignist and illiberal line. “The group is committed to maintaining with ‘Marianne’ a weekly which defends republican, social and secular values“, nevertheless specifies CMI France, which “will implement a strategic plan aimed at bringing the newspaper back to financial balance and guaranteeing its future“.
“‘Marianne’ will remain faithful to the ‘revolutionary centrism’ of its founder“, insists, for his part, Denis Olivennes. The chairman of the group’s supervisory board affirms in this respect that the appointment of Frédéric Taddeï “was approved by Jean-François Kahn“, founder of the weekly with Maurice Szafran in 1997.
READ ALSO: Purchase of “Marianne”: The journalists of the weekly directed by Natacha Polony demand “the immediate end of negotiations with Jean-Martial Lefranc”
Since the start of 2024, takeover proposals from Pierre-Édouard Stérin, a fervent Catholic, libertarian and close to the far right, then from entrepreneur Jean-Martial Lefranc, buyer of the conservative youth press group Fleurus en 2009, encountered resistance from the editorial staff and was unsuccessful.
As a reminder, the magazine’s editorial staff learned on April 22, 2024 that it was being put up for sale by its owner, Daniel Kretinsky. A source close to the matter, cited in particular by “Les Échos” at the time, assured that the Czech billionaire, openly pro-European, wanted to distance himself from the editorial line of “Marianne”, considered too “sovereignist”. Daniel Kretinsky was committed to supporting “Marianne”until the negotiations are concluded“.
