Geoffroy Lejeune
French journalist (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
French journalist (born 1988) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.[1][2][3][4][5][6] In August 2023, he was made editor-in-chief of Le Journal du Dimanche.[7]
Geoffroy Lejeune | |
---|---|
Born | Avignon, France | 3 September 1988
Alma mater | Aix-Marseille University École supérieure de journalisme de Paris |
Occupation | Editor-in-chief of Le Journal du Dimanche |
Geoffroy Lejeune was born on 3 September 1988.[8] He graduated from the École supérieure de journalisme de Paris in 2011.[9]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.