Public-sector journalists protest Macron plans to end media tax over fears for independence

Issued on: 28/06/2022 – 11:03

The unions at French public broadcasters – including France Médias Monde, the company that owns FRANCE 24, Radio France International and Arabic radio MCD – called a one-day strike for June 28. We apologise for the disruption to programming.

Macron vowed to abolish the media tax (known as the “contribution à l’audiovisuel public”), which funds TV, radio and online programming, during his re-election campaign. The €138 yearly charge – paid by the 23 million households owning a television in mainland France – brings in over €3 billion annually to pay for France Médias Monde, France Télévisions, Radio France, Arte-France and INA (Institut national de l’audiovisuel).

In a joint statement, journalists’ unions criticised the plans, saying they “threaten the very existence of public broadcasting”. In the absence of a ring-fenced revenue source, public service media will become “more precarious” and subject to “political pressure”.

The unions went on to say that “citizens have never needed independent information” more, including access to varied and diverse cultural offerings.

France “must have an independent and publicly funded audiovisual media service commensurate with the issues and challenges we must meet”. An online petition said that to guarantee the “independence” of public broadcasting, its budget “cannot be decided by the government and subject to the vagaries of a vote” on annual budgets.

According to a report by Julia Cagé, an economist specialising in the media, 13 of the 27 member countries of the European Union continue to impose media fees including France, Germany, Austria, Greece, Italy and Portugal.

“At a time when fake news is proliferating and inflation is eating away at budgets, it is essential to provide transparency in funding and fairness in distribution, as several Nordic countries have been able to do over the past ten years,” Cagé has written.

The French media fee is far from the highest. In Germany it amounts to €210 per year, and all households pay the tax on the grounds that, even if they don’t have a TV, people can still read public broadcasters’ news articles and listen to radio podcasts online.

The BBC is funded by a £159 (€190) charge on all British households that have a TV. However, Boris Johnson’s government plans to abolish the licence fee by 2027 – although the alternative way of funding the BBC is thus far unclear. Westminster is considering several ideas, from allowing advertising on BBC channels to making it, in effect, a streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire and Public Accounts Minister Gabriel Attal made the proposal to the cabinet in mid-May, a month after Macron secured his second five-year term in the Élysée. The licence fee will be “abolished for good” this year, they said, adding that the government will “continue to ensure the media’s pluralism and independence” with funding through general taxation.

The bill abolishing the licence fee is scheduled to be presented to parliament in July.

The protest begins at noon, with striking journalists marching from the Montparnasse Tower to the National Assembly in the centre of the French capital.