Staff at French newspaper Liberation outraged at plan to transform it
Journalists at struggling French daily Liberation outraged by owners' revitalisation scheme
Journalists at France's third-biggest national newspaper, Liberation, are reacting with fury at a surprise plan by the owners to try to turn around the struggling daily by transforming it into a "social network".
The owners also want to convert the multimillion-euro building currently rented by the newsroom in central Paris into an all-day cultural centre featuring a cafe, TV studio and business area to help start-ups.
We are a newspaper, not a restaurant, not a social network … not a bar
Outraged Liberation journalists vented their opposition to the plan on the cover of the weekend edition, which had the front-page headline: "We are a newspaper, not a restaurant, not a social network, not a cultural space, not a TV studio, not a bar, not a start-up incubator."
The staff voted on Sunday not to repeat a 24-hour strike they staged on Thursday upon learning of what the owners had in mind. Instead they vowed to fight against the "illegal" project in their newspaper's pages.
Started by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre in 1973 as a left-wing title, Liberation has been a mainstay on newsstands - especially in left-leaning Paris - with its emphasis on photos and sometimes militant stances.