France: Threats Targeting Journalists Reporting On Far-Right - CFWIJ Is Alarmed At Escalation
Location: France, Brittany
Date: February 16, 2023
Photo Credit: Eric Feferberg
Attacks against journalists covering far right and refugees are escalating in France. A woman journalist with France 3 Bretagne received death threats and online harassment after reporting on the targeting of staff at Le Poher magazine. We applaud the decision of media companies and journalists to press charges. Attempts to silence press through intimidation must stop. Police need to investigate the incidents immediately.
On February 8, France 3 Bretagne published an article reporting on death threats and intimidation faced by staff at magazine Le Poher. The article detailed phone calls and online harassment editorial staff experienced after reporting on a project to welcome refugees locally. Following its publication, the female journalist who wrote the article also received death threats. The journalist and France 3 Bretagne have filed several complaints to police.
Three French journalist unions denounced the threats stating that “these serious and vile threats come from the ultra-right.” They note that the harassment stems from reporting on the proposed refugee integration plan called the Horizon project and that these small groups are attempting to intimidate and silence journalists covering immigration and the far right.
Escalating threats against Le Poher magazine staff
On February 20 staff of weekly magazine Le Poher were forced to evacuate their offices after receiving a bomb threat. The bomb disposal team entered, no explosives were found, but the escalation of threats against the magazine is alarming.
The Brittany-based publication began receiving threatening emails and messages in January. “These threats, particularly in their racist dimension, seem to come from the ultra-right movement, essentially in connection with the events that occurred in the Fall of 2022 in Callac, ” Le Poher editor Erwan Chartier-Le Floch wrote. “Whether this or these individuals act out of ideology or because of psychological imbalances does not detract from the seriousness of the threats. The latter are all the more intolerable in that they aim to intimidate journalists and employees.”
On February 14, 2023, Le Poher published an editorial describing how threats had increased. “On Wednesday, February 8, around 6 p.m., the telephone rang at the Poher editorial office. The receptionist picks up. A male voice asks to speak to the editor, Erwan Chartier, and adds: “At what time can I come and put a bullet in his head? Before hanging up, the individual threatens the employee with the same fate.”
On the same day, photos of Le Poher's editorial staff, Erwan Chartier-Le Floch and Faustine Sternberg were published on two far-right websites without their permission. The magazine stated that this seemed to be designating these two journalists as targets. Le Poher asked the websites to remove their images immediately and comply with the law.
The threats against France 3 Bretagne’s journalist and staff of Le Poher are alarming. The targeted nature of these attacks and the escalation of online harassment to telephone threats and bomb threats are deeply concerning. Journalists should be free to report on refugees and far-right movements without intimidation. We urge police in France to take the complaints made by the journalists seriously and to prosecute those responsible swiftly.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
If you have been harassed or abused in any way, and please report the incident by using the following form.