From 2010 to 2017, Patrick Cohen was in command of the morning of France Inter, baptized 7/9. If he left the station after seven years to join Europe 1, he made his return this season following the ouster of Yaël Goosz. A comeback which is far from pleased if we believe an investigation carried out by Mediapart.
A meeting that does not happen as planned
It would have started on July 11, 2024, during a meeting between the editorial staff of France Inter and the director of the station, Adèle Van Reeth. But according to information from Mediapartthe latter was far from suspecting what was going to be said. The real subject was that the announcement of the return of Patrick Cohen would have rekindled painful memories among certain historical employees. Our colleagues evoke a “management brutal“From the time when he was editor -in -chief and presenter of the morning of France Inter.”We thought we were going to stay in the case of Yaël Goosz, and finally something of the Catharsis happened. I had never experienced this in Inter“would have entrusted one of the journalists present at this meeting. She is a publishing assistant, an employee for almost twenty, who would have thrown a pavement in the pond while evoking a working atmosphere “Anxiety, toxic and stressful“At the time. She would have spoken of”Acerbic criticisms“of the 62 -year -old man against his colleagues, as well as a management”aggressive“and”daily humiliations“A testimony that would have prompted two other journalists to follow suit.”They made our direction understand that Patrick Cohen was not a new man for us, that we knew him very well, and that he left us very bad memories “would have said one of the journalists. Médiapart specifies that by engaging in this way, the employees did not wish to settle their accounts with Patrick Cohen. They simply wanted to talk about it in the event that the management plans to entrust him again for responsibilities or in the event of a recurrence.
Following this famous meeting, the information director Marc Faugle quickly seized the human resources service so that the persons concerned were received. Thus, HR would have received at least three testimonies in writing, especially concerning the period 2010-2017. Nevertheless, one of them dates back to the 2007-2008 season (during which Patrick Cohen was editor-in-chief of the morning newspaper and presenter of the 8-hour newspaper), still according to our colleagues. Following this, several journalists would also plan to release their speech, including two people who currently held positions of responsibility on Radio France.
“He had the right of life or death on our subjects”
Following these reports, Médiapart would have collected nineteen testimonies from still in office, some of whom with positions of responsibility. And all would have claimed to have been victims or witnesses of “The managerial brutality of Patrick Cohen“. He is notably accused of Patrick Cohen for not having hesitated to emit criticisms in full live.”During the broadcast of a report, he could say, twenty seconds before the resumption of the antenna: ‘Ah, tell me your brief to come, it sucks, I don’t understand anything’, or ‘the order of Your newspaper is anything ‘. When you swing you in full live, it’s extremely destabilizing“Apened an ex-presenter of the morning.”He did this repeatedly, often towards the same people, generally women, confirms a columnist of the time. On the radio, we are used to doing debriefs, but not in full live“, would have said another source. He would also have rebuilt someone who came to seek his advice or would have broken another crossing a difficult period.”The role of a hierarchical superior is to be benevolent and to help his colleague to go up the slope. But Patrick Cohen put his head underwater and helped shorten his career“, would have remembered an office neighbor.
He would also have had very harsh remarks towards collaborators absent during the editorial conferences. “”It was a game of massacre, we completely came out of the editorial framework “underlined a person responsible for the presentation of the newspapers. And a journalist to add: “Those whom he considered not being good, not informed enough, bad voice, or in an too emphatic tone, were humiliated in public places.“Finally, it was said that Patrick Cohen would have already voluntarily zapped a report, yet validated by the heads of section the day before:”I had tears’ crises, not to understand why my subjects did not pass when they had passed the evening validation. We have never known this operation, neither before nor after Cohen. He had the right of life or death on our subjects“, A reporter was sorry.
Patrick Cohen’s response
While he would have initially agreed to answer questions from the media, after several exchanges by telephone and in writing as well as a meeting in January, Patrick Cohen would have finally changed his mind. He would have mentioned “A dependent investigation“and one”malicious process“led by people who”marginally participated in this adventure over ten years ago“. It would have been surprised that”Facts of such gravity having been able to occur without neither the unions nor the society of journalists having been seized or alerted“. “In broad outline, the journalist rejects any accusation of authoritarian management, specifies that he had no hierarchical power at the time and did not intervene in the composition of the morning teams. He also underlines the low rotation of the teams during his seven years at the head of the morning, believing that this stability illustrates his good relations with his colleagues at the time“, Precise Mediapart.
Contacted by the media, the management of France Inter and that of Radio France did not wish to make a comment “For reasons of confidentiality“. “He is a big worker, he is hypermnesic and nothing escapes him. His only defect is perhaps not to conceive that everyone is not always as worker as him“, would have entrusted his former comrade of the morning Thomas Legrand.
