Resistance is organizing-and beginning to bear fruit-in the face of attempts by several far-right billionaires to gain ideological control over the media and cultural production. Here is a look at the stakes of this struggle and some of its recent victories.
Bolloré-one of the country's wealthiest business leaders and a traditionalist Catholic-has harnessed his fortune to a project of cultural and media domination, a strategy theorized as early as the 1970s by think tanks like GRECE[1]. The intellectual far right was taking stock of a series of failures: the Maurrasian anti-republicanism of the 1930s; Pétain's French State and collaboration with the Nazis (extending to French volunteers joining the Waffen-SS); lost colonial wars; and the failed coup attempts by military officers and OAS terrorists opposing Algerian independence. The political manifestation of this ideological reconquest would be the unification of various fascist figures and movements within the National Front.Bolloré has patiently built a dominant group in the publishing sector, covering school and university textbooks as well as books for children and adults. To boost sales, he also owns the largest book distributor: Hachette Livre Distribution. Added to this are numerous media outlets, a journalism school, and businesses spanning video games, television, cinema, music, live entertainment, and advertising. Finally, he holds a monopoly on Relay bookstores located in train stations, subways, and airports, where he ensures that titles he owns-or those that suit his agenda-are prominently displayed. This includes a racist and homophobic magazine, *La Furia*, which-having lost its official press certification following a petition-was no longer supposed to be displayed, yet continued to be stocked by Relay shops[2].
The withdrawal of *La Furia* is a small victory. However, much remains to be done to restore the true meaning of the guarantee of pluralism as legislated at the time of the Liberation. Located within public transport facilities, Relay bookstores ought to be treated as public services themselves. For censorship in a bourgeois democracy is insidious; it operates not at the level of generating ideas, but through the financial means required to distribute them. The major democratic and financial issue at stake is the distribution of-and public access to-newspapers, magazines, and books. The Bichet Law, born of the compromises made at the Liberation, enabled "small" publications to be sold at the same retail outlets as "major" ones, thanks to a system of cost-sharing for transport. Today, that law has been stripped of its essential mechanisms. What we need for the democratic expression of diverse schools of thought is a genuine public distribution service-one that allows publications like *Alternative libertaire* to reach the network at affordable rates.
The same issues apply to television, radio, and social media. Faced with the dangers of AI and "fake news," debate has reignited around the idea of a "public service Facebook." It is a good idea-provided, for instance, that ARCOM[3](the body responsible for regulating these sectors) does not merely fine outlets like CNews and Europe 1 for their repeated violations, but actually cuts off their access, as the law stipulates! The mobilization by France Inter employees against the hiring of Charles Sapin points the way forward. The latter-deputy editor of *Valeurs actuelles*, a publication owned by Stérin (the "mini-Bolloré") and repeatedly convicted for racist remarks and incitement to hatred-will not become a public broadcaster commentator. Bravo! Let us push back against this grip step by step and reject fascist infiltration!
Jean-Yves (UCL Limousin)
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[1]Research and Study Group for European Civilization.
[2]More info at Desarmerbollore.net.
[3]Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication.
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Empires-mediatiques-Premieres-victoires-contre-Bollore-et-Sterin
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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