In French-speaking Belgium, there will soon be only one major press group
Between them, the publishers of La Libre Belgique and Le Soir own most of the print media in French-speaking Belgium. They have just announced their intention to merge. This monopoly situation raises serious questions for media plurality and the independence of information.
“The idea of a merger has been in the pipeline for a while, and now it has been confirmed: the Rossel and IPM groups will combine their activities, with the stated aim of ensuring the future of the French-speaking [Belgian] daily press,” summarizes Het Laatste Nieuws . We are therefore heading towards a “monopoly” situation, underlines the Flemish daily, since “IPM and Rossel together represent some 94% of the market” for the printed press.
To report the news in this press review, it is difficult to rely on a French-speaking Belgian newspaper that is not concerned. As the public media RTBF summarizes in this infographic , in addition to their flagships, the daily newspapers La Libre Belgique (IPM) and Le Soir (Rossel), these two family-owned companies own, directly or through partnerships, the majority of the daily press, as well as magazines, television channels and radio stations.
As announced in a press release released Monday, June 23, Rossel, owned by the Hurbain, Marchant, and Defourt families, “will absorb IPM’s newspapers and magazines,” summarizes RTBF . For its part, IPM, in the hands of the Le Hodey family, “will acquire a 10% stake in Rossel.” The latter “in fact weighs
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