Posted Jan 19, 2022, 9:27 PM
“The giant Vivendi is a little dwarf”. Heard by the Senate’s Cultural Affairs Committee, which is investigating pluralism in the French media with a view to preparing a possible law, Vincent Bolloré sought to put the weight of his group into perspective, particularly in the French media.
The Breton businessman, who no longer has operational functions apart from Compagnie de l’Odet, which holds the family’s stake in Groupe Bolloré (main shareholder of Vivendi), has minimized his role in the decisions of its subsidiaries.
“I do not have the power to name anyone”, he said. He explained that his project with Vivendi “was purely economic and not political or ideological”, while launching into a defense of economic patriotism while Vivendi defends and exports French and European culture.
“Insignificant”
In a long-awaited sequence of more than two hours, Vincent Bolloré, without hesitating to show humor, dodged the attacks of senators worried about the weight he has acquired in the French media.
After a very long list by Senator David Assouline of all the many French magazines, radios, televisions and above all publishing houses in the bosom of Vivendi, Vincent Bolloré projected a transparency with the market capitalizations of Apple, Disney, Netflix , Sony, Tencent against the “very small” Vivendi and continued on this path.
“In the information sector, we are insignificant […] in our country”, he estimated while CNews (Vivendi group) and Europe 1 (Lagardère group of which Vivendi wants to take control) are currently under fire from critics. Supporting figures: 1 million viewers on average for CNews, against 9 million for TF1 and 7 million for France 2; Europe 1, still controlled by Lagardère (“we can’t do anything”, he said), only in eighth place on the radios, and only one place in the Sunday press with the “JDD”.
I’m “woke”
While he is accused of having contributed to the popularity of Eric Zemmour, Vincent Bolloré explained that his group was pluralistic. “You could also say that I am a deconstructionist or woke, because “iel” is in the Petit Robert and it is Editis, so me”, he smiled. He also mentioned the hundreds of millions given by the group to French cinema broadcast on Canal +.
Until the end Vincent Bolloré took on the criticism, defining himself as a “lightning rod”. Both in the management of its affairs. “I don’t think my management is brutal, I just have the courage to say things, to take action. It’s brutal to tell the truth,” he said.
But also in the field of ideas. Defining himself as a Christian Democrat, he quoted Voltaire: “I do not share your ideas but I would fight so that you can express them”; and took out of his pocket a note from General de Gaulle to his father: “in memory of our common fight”, while recalling the resistant past of members of his family. “Cnews is a debate channel,” he concluded, implying no right-wing opinion.
“Our treasures are our history”
For Vincent Bolloré, the legislator was wrong to grant such a place to American platforms like Netflix in the chronology of cinema media and not to defend the place of Canal, even if he assures that it “will manage” .
And to embark on a defense of a Vivendi capable of promoting French cultural content throughout the world. “Our treasures are our history,” he said. Even if I’m not allowed to say Clovis today, it’s this treasure that can be exported. Once in a while, we can do something more subtle and refined than Spiderman. Foreigners want to gain a foothold in France and normalize (culture, editor’s note)”.
“I find that there is great pluralism [dans les médias français], said the heir to the “Ergué-Gabéric” group in Brittany, which experienced “3 kings, an emperor and 26 presidents of the Republic” as a conclusion. The real danger is the Gafa”.
Hearings with the main managers or owners of the French media will continue over the coming weeks. The Senate intends to submit a report on media concentration at the end of March.