The daily had posted on its front page on Thursday, after Emmanuel Macron’s visit, a photo with the quote: “He is gone and we are still here.” The dismissal of Aurélien Viers caused turmoil within the editorial staff.
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After a headline on the “XXL net square” operation, the newspaper’s editorial director Provence Aurélien Viers was laid off for a week, franceinfo learned from a union source. This decision caused a stir within the editorial staff. A general staff meeting takes place on Friday March 22 at noon. According to the La Provence unions, the editorial treatment of Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Marseille on Tuesday displeased “high place”denouncing possible pressure from the main shareholder, the shipowner CMA CGM Rodolphe Saadé.
After Emmanuel Macron’s surprise visit to Marseille on Tuesday, the daily published on its front page on Thursday a photo of a district of the Marseille city, with the quote: “He’s gone and we’re still here.” Aurélien Viers was laid off on Friday for a week, with an interview prior to dismissal in the coming days.
Apologies from the publishing director
Friday’s front page also displays words of apology from the publishing director. “The front page of Provence Thursday morning moved many of you”, writes Gabriel d’Harcourt. He regrets that “the quote on the front page and the illustrative photo that accompanied it may have led people to believe that we were complacently giving voice to drug traffickers determined to taunt public authority”.
For the publishing director, this “in no way reflects the values and editorial line” from Journal. “We have misled our readers and Provence offers them its deepest apologies.”he adds.
