Rabat – France’s National Union of Journalists (SNJ) and the CGT union at RMC-BFMTV have expressed serious concerns about the TV channel’s editorial stance, which they say allows far-right ideology targeting migrants and Muslims.
The unions issued a statement today warning of the impact of such conduct on French society, calling for an end to the normalization of racism on air.
The unions’ concerns particularly cited the recent racist attack in Trappes, targeting people based on their skin color.
They also cited remarks by Ali Rabeh, the Moroccan-origin mayor of Trappes, who raised concerns about the role of the media in the rise of racism within French society.
“Today, the suspect admits that he wanted to avenge the looting on October 17 and specifically target people based on their skin color.”
Police arrested a man suspected of shooting several people, killing one and injuring five others.
One of the victims is a 12-year-old who was shot eight times and is now in critical condition. The victim who was killed, meanwhile, was of Congolese origin.
Rabeh, a left-wing mayor, said the gunman opened fire “at random, wanting to cause a bloodbath.” The gunman drove through the town and neighboring La Verrière, shooting people, with the mayor describing it as “objectively a racist attack, probably Islamophobic.”
“The people targeted today could just as easily have been my mother, my brothers or my sisters-in-law,” Rabeh, whose family has Moroccan roots, added.
The SNJ, the CGT union, and RMC-BFMTV said the Trappes tragedy confirms what the unions have been denouncing for months, including “unchecked racism,” while also warning about its consequences.
BFMTV filming crews were also subjected to physical and verbal assaults during demonstrations in Paris and Marseille, the joint statement said, linking these assaults to the channel’s racist image.
“How can we not draw a link between these assaults and the remarks made on air, which give the channel a racist image and associate it with the worst far-right media outlets? Once again this week, vile statements and misinformation followed one another, without management raising any objections and without any reactions from the presenters on set,” the statement added.
It particularly cited remarks by Eric Ciotti and Eric Zemmour, who described the October 17 protests as a “French intifada” and referred to “Arab-Muslim scum.”
“How many attacks will it take for the media to realize the role they have played in this downward spiral? How many times must we denounce the verbal violence and racism poisoning our airwaves?” the unions lamented.
