2023-12-10 22:09:36
The affair took on proportions that RCI radio had probably not imagined. A journalist presenting this private Guadeloupean radio station was removed from the air after a particularly tense interview with RN president Jordan Bardella. His ouster on Sunday aroused strong disapproval on the left.
In the 1 p.m. news on Friday, presenter Barbara Olivier-Zandronis of the main radio station in the Antilles had a lively exchange with the MEP, considering in particular that he was not making “any proposals” to the European Parliament or reproaching him for having declared that Europe could not “become a five-star inn for Africa”.
❌For having done her job correctly, by asking relevant and uncompromising questions to the far-right leader J. Bardella, Guadeloupean journalist Barbara Olivier-Zandronis is sanctioned by @RCI_GP. Scandalous! I give him all my support. https://t.co/AsH0AcOjCs
— Deputy Obono (@Deputy_Obono) December 10, 2023
The RN manager ended up asking the interviewer: “Which political party do you have your card in, Madam?” “, adding: “You have been attacking me for about nine minutes by doing the questions and answers.”
The radio director defends himself
Following this interview, RCI management withdrew the presentation of the 1 p.m. news – which she hosted every week from Friday to Sunday – from the journalist, who had been on a fixed-term contract since September. This decision sparked new controversy, with several left-wing elected officials denouncing an attack on press freedom.
“This is not the first newsroom in the world where someone is removed from the air when there is a hiccup,” explained Hervé de Haro, deputy director of RCI Guadeloupe, on Sunday.
“I consider that she did not do an interview, she did a political debate. We are not an opinion radio station, and if it had been another party it would have been the same thing,” added this manager.
Left-wing elected officials protest
Five parliamentarians from Guadeloupe, deputies Élie Califer, Max Mathiasin, Olivier Serva and senators Victorin Lurel and Solanges Nadille, expressed their “indignation” in an open letter, believing that “the true essence of press freedom is embodied when politicians are confronted with fundamental and frank questions.”
On while she “remains silent” on this matter. “This indignation of variable geometry is the admission of a nauseating drift,” he said.
In Guadeloupe Barbara Olivier-Zandronis is fired from the RCI antenna after being questioned by Jordan Bardella. The media mob that attacked me for a tweet under the pretext of defending the profession remains silent. This variable geometry indignation is the admission…
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) December 10, 2023
A online petition was launched to “reestablish Barbara Olivier-Zandronis on the air of RCI Guadeloupe”, which exceeded 2,800 signatures on Sunday.
In a press release, the radio specifies that the journalist “remains an integral part of the editorial team” and says it considers “any interference in (her) business unacceptable”.
“This decision is solely the responsibility of the management of RCI Guadeloupe, Jordan Bardella and the National Rally are in no way responsible for the managerial or editorial choices of a private radio station,” wrote the director of the RN press service on X, Victor Chabert.
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