2023-09-29 10:38:00
To believe that Fashion Week occurred the worst week of the year for The echoes. Every year, the daily owned by LVMH, owner of Dior, has the habit of discussing the parade of the main French fashion house. If Bernard Arnault controls it, it is a major event covered by the other newspapers.
But this year, the photo on the back page, in the Wednesday, September 27 edition, of the presentation of the new collection on a yellow and pink background irritated several writers in the newspaper. Especially since the caption did not specify that Dior belongs to LVMH. Faced with protests from some, the Society of Journalists (SDJ) Echoes preferred not to argue publicly, putting itself in reserve while awaiting a crucial vote on September 28.
Six months after the ouster of Nicolas Barré from the management of the daily, the editorial team had to decide on the candidacy of François Vidal, Nicolas Barré’s former number two, who had been acting since then. Some thought his approval would go through like a letter in the mail. Quite the contrary. The candidacy was overwhelmingly rejected: 164 votes against, 60 votes for (7 blanks, 14 abstentions). Or a veto for 67% of those registered. A message to the shareholder from a member of the editorial staff.
“Calaamitous hearing”
The reality is more complex, explain, under cover of anonymity, other members of the Echoes. François Vidal failed to convince the editorial staff during his grand oral, Monday September 25. Questioned for two hours about his editorial strategy and his ambition for France’s leading economic daily, he made some blunders.
One of them was to speak several times of “Web desk”, that is to say of editors stationed in front of their screen. An expression that annoyed the digital editorial staff. The discussion then turned to the lack of mobility within daily life, particularly for web journalists. “François Vidal is paying for a disastrous hearing and also the fact of having been the main human resources referent within the editorial team for several years. However, he promised a lot and gave little,” testifies an editor.
And now ? Can François Vidal represent himself with another project? Will his two prospective deputies, Lucie Robequain and David Barroux, apply? On this morning of September 29, the teams of Echoes say they are “groggy” and “stunned” as they go to the daily’s headquarters, near the Eiffel Tower, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.
Contacted by Point, the CEO of the “Les Échos-Le Parisien” group, Pierre Louette, did not wish to speak. “The message has gotten through. We will now take the time to choose our future leader,” said a journalist.
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