Two journalists from France 24, Nina Masson and Yong Chim, were victims of an attempted intimidation and censorship after a question asked to an actor on the anti-Bolloré platform, which agitated the Cannes festival this year. The management and the society of journalists of France 24 denounce facts of “unprecedented seriousness”.

Published on: 06/05/2026 - 12:56 Modified on: 06/05/2026 - 15:13

The scene occurred on May 27 in a large Parisian hotel. A team from France 24 is invited to come and interview the team of the film "The Battle of Gaulle" with Simon Abkarian in the lead role, a diptych dedicated to the destiny of the man of June 18.

While one of the actors in Antonin Baudry's feature film develops a statement around the notion of commitment, our journalist Nina Masson bounces back by evoking the anti-Bolloré forum which recently caused a stir on the Croisette, even leading the government to react.

Published ahead of the Cannes Film Festival and signed by hundreds of professionals, this column expressed alarm at the increased control of billionaire Vincent Bolloré over French cinema, through Canal+ and the UGC network. Maxime Saada, the president of the Canal+ group, a major supporter of cinematographic creation in France, then announced that the channel would no longer work with the signatories.

Visibly uncomfortable by the question asked by our colleague, the actor prefers to kick in. The matter should normally have stopped there. “What happened at the end of the interview was unprecedentedly serious. The actor's press secretary blocked our team in the room, threatening them and demanding the immediate return of the memory card containing the recording of the interview,” wrote the SDJ of France 24 in a press release.

This press officer was “very vindictive and angry, not at all professional”, relates Nina Masson who explains that she firmly refused to give the memory card.

Methods of “authoritarian regimes”

Faced with the refusal of our team to give in to these illegitimate demands and contrary to journalistic ethics, a second press officer took part in the incident. Under pressure, Nina Masson and Yong Chim were forced to sign “a written commitment not to broadcast the disputed passage”.

“Methods like this, where my equipment is taken away and I am asked to return a memory card, have happened to me in authoritarian regimes,” Julie Dungelhoeff, president of the SDJ of France 24 and a senior reporter accustomed to difficult terrain, expressed emotion on Friday at the microphone of France culture.

The passage in question will ultimately not be used by our teams, not for fear of reprisals but because it was deemed unusable. Shocked by the violence of the process, our two journalists as well as the management of France 24 demanded an apology from the two press officers involved.

A climate of fear

France 24 also condemns in the strongest possible terms the pressure exerted on its journalists, which it describes as archaic practices constituting an unacceptable attack on press freedom.

“We strongly denounce the acts of intimidation which targeted our teams. I find the method astonishing. It requires an immediate apology. Our team was mistreated in the exercise of its profession. This cannot create a precedent,” says Vanessa Burggraf, the editorial director of France 24.

According to Nina Masson, the episode says a lot about "the fear" which has infiltrated the French cinema world since Maxime Saada's remarks about a "black list".

“Since then, I have received dozens of testimonies on my networks from cultural journalists who are experiencing the same thing. Without going to that level, they are under pressure not to ask this or that question. We are tired of working in these conditions,” confides Nina Masson.

The Society of Journalists of France 24 indicates that it provides “unreserved support” to Nina Masson and Yong Chim. “Freedom of the press is non-negotiable,” concludes the SDJ.

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*article modified at 2:55 p.m. to include reactions from Vanessa Burggraf and Nina Masson

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