Geoffroy Lejeune

Geoffroy Lejeune
Born (1988-09-03) 3 September 1988 (age 36)
Avignon, France
Alma materAix-Marseille University
École supérieure de journalisme de Paris
OccupationEditor-in-chief of Le Journal du Dimanche

Geoffroy Lejeune (born 3 September 1988) is a French journalist. He was the editor-in-chief of Valeurs actuelles which is associated with the far right and the patriotic right.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In August 2023, he was made editor-in-chief of Le Journal du Dimanche.[7]

Early life

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Geoffroy Lejeune was born on 3 September 1988.[8] He graduated from the École supérieure de journalisme de Paris in 2011.[9]

Career

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Early career

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Lejeune began his career in journalism for Le Point.[10]

Valeurs actuelles

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He became the political editor of Valeurs actuelles in 2015 and its editor-in-chief in 2016.[10] He became the youngest editor-in-chief in France.[9] As editor, he covered the whole spectrum of right-wing politics, from the far right to the centre right.[9] He also hired several young journalists, with a focus on investigative journalism.[10] In April 2017, he derided Le Monde, France's left-wing newspaper of record, for launching Decodex, a fact-checking app, and he suggested Valeurs actuelles should start fact-checking Le Monde.[11]

In September 2021, he was fined €1500 after Valeurs actuelles was found guilty of hate speech for publishing a seven page fictional story about La France Insoumise politician Danièle Obono in which the magazine depicted Obono as being captured and enslaved in the 18th century.[12]

In June 2023, he was fired from his position at Valeurs actuelles after a conflict with Iskandar Safa, the owner of the magazine, in which Safa accused Lejeune of being politically too far to the right.[13] Over the course of his tenure as editor-in-chief, the number of subscribers to the magazine declined by 10% and the number of visitors to its website decline by half.[14]

Le Journal du Dimanche

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In 2023, media group Vivendi, mainly owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, announced that it would be acquiring the weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche and appointing Lejeune as its new editor-in-chief. The appointment proved controversial, with over 400 prominent cultural and political figures signing an open letter opposing his appointment and saying that "the first time since the Liberation of France, a large national media will be run by a far-right personality."[15] Human rights group Reporters Without Borders stated that the appointment would "threaten editorial independence in journalism."[16] In response to Lejeune's appointment, the staff of Le Journal du Dimanche launched a strike, leading to the newspaper missing publication two consecutive weeks for the first time in its history.[17]

Books

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Lejeune is the author of a political novel (Une élection ordinaire), published in 2015, in which conservative essayist Éric Zemmour is elected as the President of France.[18][19]

Political positions

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Lejeune endorsed Éric Zemmour in the 2022 French presidential election. Politico has described him as a "proud friend" of far-right politician Marion Maréchal.[14] He has been described by France24 as "the pen and sword of the far-right"[20] and by Le Monde as a "reactionary crusader."[21]

Works

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  • Lejeune, Geoffroy (2015). Une élection ordinaire. Paris: Éditions Ring. ISBN 9791091447355. OCLC 930931743.

References

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  1. ^ "Intrusion au siège de "Valeurs actuelles" après la représentation de Danièle Obono en esclave". LEFIGARO (in French). 29 August 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Obono : Valeurs Actuelles fictionne son racisme sans l'assumer - Par Loris Guémart | Arrêt sur images". www.arretsurimages.net. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Valeurs Actuelles, l'attrape-droites". LExpress.fr (in French). 4 December 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  4. ^ "Refuser la banalisation du racisme". Le Monde.fr (in French). 1 September 2020.
  5. ^ Alistair Cole (26 March 2019). Emmanuel Macron and the two years that changed France. Manchester University Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-5261-4050-0.
  6. ^ "Valeurs Actuelles (Groupe Valmonde)". 118 128 (in French). Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  7. ^ Henley, Jon (6 August 2023). "'We fight on': fears for France's Sunday paper over editor with far-right ties". The Observer. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Lejeune, Geoffroy (1988–....) forme internationale". Bibliothèque nationale de France. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  9. ^ a b c "Un jeune journaliste prend la tête de la rédaction de Valeurs actuelles". L'Expansion. 31 May 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  10. ^ a b c Dejean, Mathieu (11 October 2016). "Qui est Geoffroy Lejeune, le patron de "Valeurs actuelles" ?". Les Inrocks. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  11. ^ Bastié, Eugénie (9 February 2017). ""Qui fact-checkera les fact-checkeurs ?" : le Decodex du Monde suscite des critiques". Le Figaro. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  12. ^ Breeden, Aurélien (29 September 2021). "French Court Convicts Magazine Over Racist Portrayal of Black Lawmaker". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  13. ^ "Goeffroy Lejeune annonce son éviction de la tête de Valeurs actuelles". Le Parisien. 19 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  14. ^ a b Liali, Giorgio (29 June 2023). "'French Murdoch' sparks fears of far-right lurch at iconic paper". Politico. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  15. ^ Alderman, Liz (30 June 2023). "A French Newsroom on Strike After Appointment of 'Far-Right' Editor". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Geoffroy Lejeune à la tête du "JDD" : Vincent Bolloré met "en danger l'indépendance éditoriale du journalisme", estime Reporters sans frontières". Franceinfo. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Au « Journal du dimanche », la grève reconduite jusqu'à mardi matin". Le Monde. 1 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  18. ^ Devecchio, Alexandre (3 October 2015). "Geoffroy Lejeune : "Éric Zemmour et Michel Onfray séduisent parce qu'ils sont libres"". Le Figaro. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  19. ^ ""Zemmour président", un scénario qui ne passe pas". 20 Minutes. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  20. ^ "Geoffroy Lejeune, plume et épée de l'extrême droite". France24. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  21. ^ Trippenbach, Ivanne (24 June 2023). "Geoffroy Lejeune, une croisade réactionnaire jusqu'au « Journal du dimanche »". Le Monde. Retrieved 3 July 2023.


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