“You don’t have a sound problem. It’s the Bondy Blog that has a money problem”says Sarah Ichou, director of the Bondy Blog, in a video published on YouTube. Nearly twenty years after its creation by Serge Michel, the independent media which reports on French working-class neighborhoods, launched a call for donations on December 4. The context? A few months after the death of Nahel Merzouk by a police officer in Nanterre in 2023, the Bondy Blog saw its finances – aid from the national agency for territorial cohesion (ANCT) and that of the Ministry of Culture – halved. 70,000 euros in subsidies were granted in 2024, compared to 150,000 euros in 2022.
« The writing did not stop. We do our job differently », declares Sarah Ichou who manages the media alongside Héléna Berkaoui, as editor-in-chief. The media pays all of its contributors, but the drastic reduction in its subsidies forced it to hire a journalist on a one-year fixed-term contract.
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For Sarah Ichou, this drop in public subsidies also demonstrates “ the lack of consideration for working-class neighborhoods in Emmanuel Macron’s policies “. Behind its call for donations, the media also warns of the drop in public subsidies granted to local associations. “ In working-class neighborhoods, entrepreneurship is more valued than the associative fabric, while grassroots associations are valuable and make it possible to remedy the failures of the State », adds the editorial director.
“Indie media: finance yourself to better denounce”, alerted other independent media dealing with working-class neighborhoods during a round table on December 11 hosted by CePep in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine. While in the media landscape 90% of major press organizations are owned by billionaires, others are trying to build an independent economic model through crowdfunding and brand content. This is particularly the case of Banlieusard Nouveau, founded by Amadou Dabitao who integrated an agency into the media under the name BN Agency.
To prepare for 2025, the year of its twentieth anniversary, the Bondy Blog could reactivate other levers. “ We have already produced content for brands and institutions that share our values, such as Godlen Blocks, the Maison de la Culture de Seine-Saint-Denis (MC93). But brand content does not yet represent a significant part of our financing », deplores Sarah Ichou. The primary objective of the call for donations is to make up for the budget deficit.
