As a guest at the economics and culture symposium organized by Télérama, and on the occasion of the privatization of TF1, Raymond Barre warns against media concentration that threatens pluralism.
Danièle Giazzi, National Secretary of the UMP, interviewed by Françoise Laborde in 2008 on the occasion of the States General of the press, said she was in favour of the release of media companies due to the economic crisis. It calls for the removal of restrictions on the grouping of media companies. According to her, the status and rights of journalists will be protected if they work in profitable companies.
Independent publishers are concerned about the risk of a monopoly following the acquisition of Vivendi’s publishing division by the Lagardère group. With its subsidiary Hachette, it will control 90% of the dictionary market, 70% of textbooks and 40% of literature. Vivendi employees are also concerned about a redesign of the group and job cuts. Interviews with Hervé de la Martinière, publisher, Jean-Jacques Aillagon, Minister of Culture, and a CGT trade union representative from "Vivendi Universal Publishing".
Report detailing the contents of the anti trust bill on the status of the press limiting the concentration and ownership of the number of national and regional dailies. Reactions were mixed in the world of the print media: hostilities on the part of the press bosses including Philippe MESTRE, CEO of Ocean Press, member of the Hersant Group and reserve of more than funds form on the part of François Régis HUTIN, CEO Ouest France, He was in favour of a bill on freedom of the press but opposed a bill on the status of the press, which regulated accounts with political opponents, which favoured pluralism and had nothing against Robert HERSANT.
In 1984, Jean-Jack Queyranne, the rapporteur of the Press Bill to restrict media grouping, criticised the behaviour of the Hersant group, which risked questioning the plurality of the press by possessing too many titles from the print press.
The Minister of Finance has just authorized Ouest France to buy 3 Socpresse newspapers: Presse Océan, le Courrier de l'Ouest and Le Maine Libre. Ouest France will have a virtual monopoly in the West. Interviewed on the guarantee of the editorial independence of the repurchased newspapers, François-Régis HUTIN, CEO of Ouest France, explains: "Completely, you know well, I have said it a thousand times. A trade unionist from Ocean Press and a delegate from the Western Courier staff gave their views.
The CSA has launched a call for applications for a new radio frequency. TV 10, mainly financed by the city of Angers, competes with Socpresse and representatives of the Ouest-France group. The private project supported by Ouest-France was selected. Interviewed Michèle MOREAU, deputy mayor of Angers and president of TV 10 Angers, explains: "If you want, my preoccupation is that today everything is standardized and that my fear is that through these groupings it is still standardization...". Bruno MUSSO, media sociologist, talks about the difficulty of having strong press groups and maintaining diversity.