A two-day strike began at Radio France on Sunday, September 13, 2026, after the French public broadcaster hired Charles Sapin, a senior editor at the conservative magazine Valeurs Actuelles, as a political commentator on its flagship station, France Inter. Unions accuse him of spreading far-right ideas.
The strike meant Sapin's regular Sunday column did not air, nor did the rest of France Inter's morning programming, which was replaced by music.
An alliance of six unions, CFDT, CGT, FO, SNJ, SUD and Unsa, called on listeners to join a rally outside the Maison de la Radio, Radio France's Paris headquarters, at 2pm on Sunday. An internal source said disruption was expected to be worse on Monday than Sunday, since Sunday carries fewer live broadcasts.
Who Is Charles Sapin
Sapin, formerly of the weekly magazine Le Point, became deputy editorial director of Valeurs Actuelles this summer. Since August 30 he has presented a few-minute political column on France Inter, France's most-listened-to radio station, each Sunday morning at around 7:40am.
Staff Reject the Hire
Radio France's management defended the recruitment as a matter of pluralism ahead of the 2027 presidential election, but the decision was contested immediately. In a motion adopted on September 2, staff voiced outright refusal, arguing that Valeurs Actuelles was incompatible with the values of public broadcasting.
Valeurs Actuelles describes itself as conservative and has been convicted in court on several occasions, including for depicting Danièle Obono, a Black lawmaker from the left-wing France Insoumise party, as a slave in 2020. The magazine was then led by Geoffroy Lejeune, who left in 2023 to head the newspaper Journal du Dimanche. Unions also noted that one of the magazine's shareholders, Pierre-Édouard Stérin, is a billionaire close to the far right.
Cultural Figures Speak Out
On Saturday, an open letter published in the newspaper Le Parisien and signed by 300 public figures called the recruitment revolting. Signatories included actresses Julie Gayet, Ariane Ascaride and Corinne Masiero, singer Lio, and Nobel literature laureate Annie Ernaux.
Management Defends Pluralism
Questioned on air on Thursday by Radio France's ombudsperson, France Inter director Céline Pigalle again defended the hire, calling pluralism fundamental for a public broadcaster. She pointed to other newly recruited commentators who came from outlets with differing political leanings, including Le Nouvel Obs, Alternatives Économiques and the Financial Times.
Political Reactions
With the presidential election months away, the dispute has taken on a political dimension. In early September, La France Insoumise leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon described the hire as a takeover of the newsroom by far-right sympathizers. Les Républicains figure Bruno Retailleau took the opposite view, criticizing what he called the sectarianism of Radio France's newsrooms.
Radio France is the country's public radio group, which also runs stations including France Info and France Culture and is largely funded by public money.
