In a press release, the Paris School of Journalism (ESJ), created in 1899, announced on Friday that it had been taken over by conservative owners, such as Bolloré and Dassault. An announcement that caused a reaction in the industry.
Among the “French companies which have agreed to participate in strengthening the ESJ”, Koodenvoi (Habert Dassault finances, the Dassault group owns Le Figaro), La Compagnie de l'Odet (which oversees the capital of the Bolloré group, which has in its fold Canal+ and Prisma media) and CMA Média, owned by Rodolphe Saadé (La Provence, BFM, RMC, etc.). La Financière Agache (owned by Bernard Arnault, who also owns Le Parisien and les Echos) and Bayard presse (La Croix, Phosphore) are also among the buyers.
The presidency of the establishment is entrusted to Vianney d'Alançon (present among the buyers via its structure, Financière de La Lance), Catholic entrepreneur behind Rocher Mistral, a sort of Provençal Puy du Fou, at the Château de La Barben (Bouches-du -Rhone). Since 2006, the presidency has been held by Guillaume Jobin.
Reactions following the announcement of the resumption
ESJ Paris is not one of the 14 schools recognized by the profession, unlike ESJ Lille, with which it has no relationship. But its takeover by these conservative owners is still worrying.
Following the sharing of the press release, many people reacted on social networks. “ESJ Paris is not one of the 14 recognized schools. However, the fact that Bolloré, Arnault, Saadé and Dassault want to interfere in the training of journalists should worry us all. Schools must remain independent of the shareholders who own the media,” writes Alexis Levrier, press and media historian, on X (formerly Twitter).
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Edwy Plenel, co-founder of Mediapart, also made a comment: “Already masters of the private media, our oligarchs are taking possession of the oldest school of journalism. »
ESJ Paris now intends, according to its press release, “in particular to strengthen its position of reference in the field of journalism education, particularly in economics”. It prides itself on being “the first journalism school in the world open to women and foreign students”.
