Radio France workers strike over hiring of Valeurs actuelles editor Charles Sapin

Morning programming suspended across France Inter

Radio France trade unions initiated a 48-hour strike on Sunday, 13 September 2026, to protest the appointment of Charles Sapin as a weekly political commentator on France Inter. The walkout forced France Inter, the country's most listened-to radio network, to cancel its regular morning schedule and replace live studio broadcasts with recorded music. Sapin's weekly Sunday slot, scheduled to air at 07:40, was taken off the schedule as a direct result of the industrial action. In contrast, morning broadcasts on other Radio France stations, including franceinfo and France Culture, aired without interruption. Internal network officials indicated that programming disruptions are expected to widen on Monday, 14 September, when the weekday schedule features a higher number of live broadcasts.

Due to a strike notice filed by all representative trade union organizations at Radio France requesting the withdrawal from France Inter of a political editorial by the deputy editorial director of Valeurs actuelles, we are unable to broadcast the entirety of our usual programs.

Management defense and listener backlash

France Inter director Céline Pigalle defended the decision during an on-air interview with the network's listener mediator on Thursday, framing the hire as an essential step toward ideological diversity ahead of the presidential election. Pigalle pointed out that the station regularly features political analysts from diverse editorial backgrounds, including Le Nouvel Obs, Alternatives économiques, and the Financial Times. She reported that Sapin, who worked at Le Point before becoming deputy editorial director of Valeurs actuelles in the summer of 2026, assured her he joined the conservative weekly specifically to modify its editorial line. Pigalle also stated that she would not permit discriminatory or hateful speech on the airwaves.

That all kinds of viewpoints, stances, and opinions can be expressed on this station is fundamental; it is one of our primary missions.

The listener mediator noted during the broadcast that the station received a heavy volume of critical listener correspondence following the announcement. Audience members expressed anger and described the editorial appointment as a betrayal of public service commitments.

Union opposition and legal history

The joint union coalition, which includes the CFDT, CGT, FO, SNJ, SUD, and Unsa, called on staff and listeners to hold a demonstration outside the Maison de la Radio headquarters in Paris at 14:00 on 13 September 2026. Staff originally discovered the hiring on 26 August and subsequently adopted an internal motion on 2 September expressing their categorical refusal, declaring Valeurs actuelles incompatible with public service broadcasting.

This is a kind of rehabilitation of Valeurs actuelles in the media landscape, but not all media are offenders.

Union representatives cited past court rulings against Valeurs actuelles, including a final 2022 conviction for public racist insults over a 2020 article depicting Black lawmaker Danièle Obono of La France Insoumise as a slave. The magazine, directed at that time by Geoffroy Lejeune, was also convicted in 2015 for inciting racial hatred against Romani people. Union officials also drew attention to the magazine's financial backing from billionaire Pierre-Édouard Stérin. Opposition to the hiring widened on 12 September, when Le Parisien published a protest column signed by 300 public personalities.