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French Sunday newspaper on strike over fears of far-right turn

New editor is Geoffroy Lejeune,  the former head of magazine Valeurs Actuelles, which has courted controversy with anti-immigrant covers and was fined for a racist insult in 2022.

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France’s flagship Sunday newspaper, Le Journal du Dimanche (JDD), was not published this Sunday after its staff went on strike to protest against the nomination of a new editor-in-chief who worked for a far-right magazine, reports AOL.com.

The newspaper’s owner, French media group Lagardère, on Friday named Geoffroy Lejeune as JDD's new editor-in-chief, succeeding Jérôme Béglé who left for Paris Match.

Lejeune is the former head of magazine Valeurs Actuelles, which has courted controversy with anti-immigrant covers and was fined for racist insult in 2022.

The move comes just two weeks after the European Commission gave a conditional green light to the acquisition of Lagardère by Vivendi the media conglomerate controlled by French billionaire Vincent Bolloré.

The company already owns news channel CNews, which has taken a conservative turn since Bolloré took control. 

Read more of this report from AOL.com.