WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE FRANCE - news journal UPDATE - (en) France, OCL CA #349 - "Media and Antifascism": The New Show Against Far-Right Journalism (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr) [machine translation]

 Since last October, the show "Media and Antifascism" on Radio Libertaire

has aimed to analyze and critique the (far-)rightward shift in the
French media, which was widely observed, particularly during the recent
legislative elections. A first episode on the reign of Béziers mayor and
former journalist Robert Ménard, a second on education and so-called
"re-informers," and a third on elected officials in the Mayotte
department offer us an insight into the role of nationalism and
"reaction" in newspapers, websites, radio stations, and television
channels. The last two episodes, on sports journalism and Frontières
(formerly Livre Noir), provide an opportunity to investigate a press
with neo-fascist overtones. ---- "Reinformation," "reconquest,"
"remigration," "great replacement," and "migratory submersion": so many
phrases that, year after year, have become established in parts of the
French press, until the last of them ended up in the mouth of the Prime
Minister on January 27th. During the campaigns for the last European and
legislative elections, the stranglehold of the National Rally (RN), Eric
Zemmour's "Reconquest!" party, and the Eric Ciotti version of the
Republicans was heavily felt on the Bolloré group's airwaves, of course,
but also on RMC and the "right-wing union" devotee Radio Courtoisie.

With this in mind, a new program debuted last October on Radio
Libertaire. Emerging from the former Actualités Antifascistes (AA)
program, broadcast from January to November 2020 on the same station, it
aims to both analyze and denounce the appropriation of the media,
particularly by the right and the far right, in light of the diagram of
the La Horde website (see image 1 above) and that of the Vigilance et
Initiatives Syndicales Antifascistes (VISA) collective, created with the
Debunkers de Hoax (see image 2 below).

Burning news, a long-standing far-right bias

Having been scalded by the coverage of the revolts in Kanaky/New
Caledonia, the denunciation of voluntary termination of pregnancy (VTP)
on CNews, and the ultra-noisy promotion of Dora Moutot and Marguerite
Stern's book Transmania, the AA team decided to return to action. To
mark the release of Daniel Kupferstein's film, "Béziers, l'envers du
décor," about the exploits of the mayor of this Occitan city, a first
issue was published on October 11th.

Robert Ménard's use of his "Journal du Biterrois" and his numerous radio
and television appearances prompted us to cover the case of the former
president of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), founder in 2012 of the
abominable website Boulevard Voltaire. In November, we wanted to
highlight Grégory Chambat's book, "Quand l'extrême-droite rêve de faire
école. Une bataille culturelle et sociale" (When the Far Right Dreams of
Setting Schools. A Cultural and Social Battle) published by Éditions du
Croquant, published free online on June 24, 2024. Here too, the very
strong audiovisual presence of a lobbyist like Sophie Audugé, "director"
of SOS Education, frightens us, given her connection to the
"Enseignement et Liberté" (Teaching and Freedom) association, which has
defended private education for 42 years.

The legacy of the Research and Study Group for European Civilization
(GRECE) and the Carrefour de l'Horloge (formerly the Club de l'Horloge)
is clearly visible here: GRECE's first journal was called "Nouvelle
école" (New School) and subsequently led to the creation of the Study
Group for a New Education, whose acronym "GENE" speaks volumes about the
mentality of a movement that, in 1983, denounced "the failure of
egalitarianism" in "L'école en accusation" (The School Under Accusation).

Mayotte, Sahel, Sport, and Zemmourism: A Dangerous Interweaving

Our third episode focused on the speeches of elected officials from the
Mayotte department on Comorian immigration. Estelle Youssouffa, a member
of the Liberties, Independents, Overseas Territories (LIOT) group, and
Anchya Bamana, a member of the National Rally, remain the archipelago's
two representatives in the National Assembly. On September 27, 2024,
Estelle Youssouffa submitted a bill to abolish birthright citizenship in
Mayotte. On February 6, 2025, another bill was adopted by the Assembly,
increasing the legal residency requirement for both parents, rather than
just one, from three months to three years for their child to
potentially acquire French nationality.

Our guest today, Rémi Carayol, also discussed Emmanuel Macron's
propaganda use of Radio France Internationale (RFI) and France 24 during
Operation Barkhane in the Sahel, which ultimately resulted in the
withdrawal of French troops from Mali in 2022. In January and February,
we successively covered sports journalism and the Frontières website,
quarterly magazine and YouTube channel. For example, we highlighted the
career of Pascal Praud, who covered football for 30 years before
becoming a presenter on "L'Heure des pros."

We also described the antics of Erik Tegnér, a former member of the
Republicans party who founded Frontières in 2021 under the name Livre
Noir, and who has repeatedly made public appearances to promote Éric
Zemmour's ideology. Broadcast every second Friday of the month from
11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Médias et antifascisme offers Radio Libertaire
listeners content focused on journalism and its dangerous links to what
is currently spreading fascism in France and Europe.

Anyone who would like to suggest topics, appear on air, or co-host can
contact us at mediasetantifascisme@protonmail.com, via our Facebook and
Bluesky accounts: Médias et antifascisme - Radio Libertaire 89.4 FM en
IDF, X (formerly Twitter) "@Médias_antifa," or by mail to the Publico
bookstore at 145 rue Amelot, 75011 Paris.

The Médias et antifascisme team

https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8345
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