"20 Minutes": a motion of no confidence from the editorial staff voted against the general director

Journalists at the online media outlet 20 Minutes have voted a motion of no confidence in the CEO and publication director, Ronan Dubois, denouncing "systematic brutality from management towards its employees [which] is no longer acceptable today," announced the SNJ-CGT and SNME-CFDT inter-union in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Friday, July 4.

According to the unions, participation in this internal vote was 77%, or 40 of the 52 journalists on the editorial staff, and the motion was adopted by 82.5%. The editors-in-chief did not vote, as is customary at 20 Minutes , a union source told AFP.

The journalists are criticizing Ronan Dubois, who was appointed in 2023, for "incomprehensible decisions" that have "worsened the financial situation" of the newspaper instead of improving it. They point to a hiring freeze and the failure to replace sick leave. "This new staff cut has a major impact on the editorial staff, which is having to cope with an ever-increasing workload and pressure," they lament.

The editorial staff also denounces "the meticulous destruction of [their] social benefits" , with the denunciation of several company agreements, including that on teleworking, the cessation of the payment of copyright and the "categorical" refusal to pay related rights, as well as two recent dismissals deemed unjustified.

The unions also report "inappropriate and possibly discriminatory" comments made by Ronan Dubois towards a transgender union representative, which are currently the subject of an investigation.

Finally, the editorial team points to the statements made at the general meeting on June 27th "suggesting that shareholders could transform 20 Minutes into a "public company" if the social climate did not become "calm" again." In addition to all the practices denounced, this motion comes at a time when the media outlet has just been condemned on appeal in court for "discrimination" and "moral harassment" of a journalist because of his disability, the unions also report.

Journalists now believe that it is "impossible to trust Ronan Dubois to lead 20 Minutes. " Founded in 2002, 20 Minutes was the last free newspaper distributed in France, before becoming a digital-only media outlet in September 2024.