Radio satirists known for targeting politicians are fired

Prominent French public radio station France Inter has fired two of its most famous satirists, Stéphane Guillon and Didier Porte, both known for providing biting commentary targeting top politicians.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy had called Guillon’s scathing send-ups of French political figures, including himself, “inadmissible”.

In an interview with daily newspaper Le Monde, however, the CEO of Radio France group (which includes France Inter, among other stations), Jean-Luc Hees, stated that his decision did not come from “any political pressure, but from a need for basic values of politeness and public service to be respected”.

Guillon is a well-liked comic, and Hees acknowledged that his decision might not be a popular one. “I know that in making this decision, I’m taking a risk”, he said. “But I accept that responsibility”.

Taking shots at powerful targets

In his last radio segment on Wednesday morning, Guillon wondered aloud if the decision was indeed a political one. “If it’s political, it’s stupid”, Guillon said. “Whether or not I’m on this station, the president is going down in the polls. Why fire a satirist who pulls in two million listeners?”

Speculation about Guillon’s future at the most widely listened-to public radio station in France started to intensify when the comic turned his satirical ire upon IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry.

But tension between Guillon and the government reached a boiling point when Guillon devoted a segment to Immigration Minister Eric Besson in March. He depicted the former Socialist as a “mole for the [far-right] National Front party]”, sent to “infiltrate the Socialist Party, quit, and join Nicolas Sarkozy to try and advance National Front causes”. Guillon also described Besson as “unlikable” and “a rampant liar with beady eyes”.

At the time, Radio France President Jean-Luc Hees apologised to Besson on behalf of the group, provoking a debate around the relationship between Radio France’s chief and the current government and the degree of freedom exercised by radio personalities on a public station. One of Guillon’s more pointed barbs was about Hees being nominated to his position by Sarkozy in 2009. The joke earned a public rebuke from France Inter director Philippe Val, who called it “unacceptable”.

As for Didier Porte, the comic told French news agency AFP that Val had informed him that neither of his shows would be renewed. Rumours had been swirling that Porte would meet such a fate after he received a warning letter regarding a May 20th segment in which the comic performed a sketch of Sarkozy being sodomised by former French Prime Minister and rival Dominique de Villepin.

For Porte’s similarly evicted colleague Guillon, the recent moves by Radio France amount to “a total liquidation of satirists”. Radio journalists last week, infuriated by what they see as efforts to stifle their freedoms, signed a petition against France Inter director Philippe Val.