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The video opens with a humorous exchange blaming the media for being owned by billionaires, allowing certain hosts to say anything, and being too close to those in power. Public broadcasting is also criticized.

The two presenters wonder whether journalism can still exist. They discuss the idea of independent media, free from shareholder and political pressure, and note that there is no magic money.

• In the cited survey, over 31% of respondents trust the media while 61% say the opposite. • Trust in media as an institution is declining, even though people still trust their own news source. • According to Reuters' Digital News Report, 30% of French people trust news, compared to 67% of Finns and 45% of Germans. • Trust in France Télévision news is 58%, versus 40% for BFM, C News, or Le Parisien.

In France, distrust of media institutions is rising and stronger than in neighboring countries. The question remains whether this is a problem, which requires defining what media should do.

Media form a fourth power that checks the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The ordinary citizen cannot alone verify that these powers function properly.

Without independent media, citizens cannot vote, advocate, or protest with full knowledge. Leaders become free to do whatever they want.

A 2020 American study shows that the disappearance of local newspapers raises borrowing costs for municipalities. Local newspapers hold governments accountable.

Companies and corporate leaders must also be monitored, requiring media independent of billionaires.

French media are owned by billionaires such as Bernard Arnault, the Dassault family, Vincent Bolloré, Daniel Kretinsky, Xavier Niel, and Rodolphe Saadé.

• Owning a media outlet allows one to shape public opinion and pressure politicians. • These shareholders' industrial empires are subject to laws and benefit from public contracts.

• According to a Vie publique report, nearly 80% of media have margins below 6% and 56% operate at a loss. • Continuous news channels like BFM TV, LCI, and C News have operating deficits. • Media thus serve as a communications department—for example, Le Figaro or Gala for the Dassault family.

A media outlet can also serve an ideological vision, like Vincent Bolloré promoting religion on C News or Pierre-Édouard Stérin with his Périclès project. This is why media must be independent from politics, judges, and economic powers.

A character blames media for wokeism and groupthink. He describes journalists as a caste of Parisian progressives earning €5,000 a month.

Of 35,000 journalists holding a press card, 19,000 are in the Paris region and half of those in the suburbs. 16,000 work outside the Paris region.

• The median income is €4,000 gross for permanent staff and €2,100 for freelancers on fixed-term contracts. • Precarity is increasing, with more freelancers and temporary workers. • Sociologist Jean-Marie Charon describes low pay, sometimes at minimum wage or below, and widespread stress among young journalists. • Very high incomes concern only a small minority.

Children of managers are overrepresented in journalism schools, while managers represent 25% of the active population. Journalists are therefore not representative of society.

No journalist can be neutral, but they can be asked to act in good faith.

The Munich code of ethics was signed in 1971 by the European Federation of Journalists. It does not mention neutrality or pluralism. Its first duty is to respect the truth.

Opinions are acceptable if based on facts and never deliberately exclude those that contradict the journalist's ideology.

Pascal Praud mocks climate change based on a cold day. He confuses weather with climate, effectively ignoring facts that don't suit him.

A newsroom is hierarchical. The publisher, appointed and replaceable by the shareholder, must approve all publications, making certain subjects difficult to cover.

According to Julia Cagé and Benoît Huet, most French media are owned by commercial companies (SA, SARL, SAS). Media status does not give journalists more power.

• Alternatives économiques is a worker cooperative, so power rests with employees. • Le Monde and Mediapart are SAS companies held by an endowment fund. • They are protected from takeovers, put journalists at the center of decisions, and do not aim to enrich shareholders.

These media are paid, with subscriptions at €12 per month for Alternatives économiques and Mediapart. Not everyone can afford this, raising accessibility concerns.

Historically, advertising allowed newspapers to be sold for a few cents. Newspapers' advertising revenues have been falling for decades as platforms and social networks capture an increasing share of budgets.

Newspapers' advertising revenues were divided by more than 6 in the United States and roughly by 3 in France between 1990 and the late 2010s.

• Media depend on brands whose advertising they carry—for example, LVMH when writing critically about Bernard Arnault. • In 2012, Libération published the front-page headline "Get lost, you rich bastard." The head of LVMH had ads from his controlled brands removed, costing the newspaper €700,000.

• Hugo Décrypte advertised NordVPN in 2022 and was rejected by the CDJM. Article 9 of the Munich Charter forbids confusing journalists with advertisers. • The Senate notes that content managers are replacing professional journalists. • Sponsored articles and brand content, for example on BFM TV or Brut, are ads disguised as journalism.

On Instagram or TikTok, a Brut report about Pokémon cards turns out to be an advertisement for eBay. Brut has been owned by Rodolphe Saadé since 2025.

Brut's ad network page offers to help brands dominate social conversations and stay culturally relevant with the new generation.

Brut was created in 2016 and exploded during the Yellow Vests protests. In 2019, its editor-in-chief Laurent Lucas refused an interview with Emmanuel Macron, who had no announcements to make and was seeking publicity before the European elections.

Since the 2025 takeover, CEO Elsa Darkier describes Brut as a "love brand" and says it will be the media of the next female president in 2027. The presenters wonder whether Brut is a news outlet or a communications agency.

• Science & Vie was bought in 2019 by Reworld Media while it was financially viable. • Journalists were reduced from 340 to 140, partly replaced by communications staff to boost ad revenue. • According to a union delegate, they aim to optimize search rankings to drive clicks.

Former journalists launched the journal Epsilon and were sued by Reworld Media. The lawsuits went nowhere but cost significant money.

• C8 was never profitable, and C News lost €9.5 million in 2023 versus €5 million the year before. • These channels serve to push an ideology aligned with the shareholder's.

Cyril Hanouna accumulated €7.5 million in fines before C8's license was revoked. Without effective sanctions, other billionaires can follow suit, causing France to drop in press freedom rankings.

• A reduced VAT rate of 2.1% on subscriptions represents €200 million per year. • Postal aid for print media represents roughly €100 million per year. • Aid for distribution, plurality, and modernization amounts to another roughly €100 million.

The first two aids are linked to media status, and the third to IPG (news and general information) status. None require hiring a majority of journalists or involving them in management.

Reworld Media was able to cut two-thirds of Science & Vie's journalists without losing its reduced VAT rate.

These aids, roughly €400 million per year, are not conditional on defending free and independent press. They apply only to print media, not to C News.

Of France Télé and Radio France's €4.5 billion annually, €4 billion comes from the state, €400 million from advertising, and €100 million from commercial revenue. Public broadcasting depends less on ads than Le Monde (20%) or TF1.

In 2022, Emmanuel Macron eliminated the license fee, dedicated funding the state could not touch. Now the government must vote on funding each year, weakening independence.

Arcom appoints the heads of Radio France and France Télé, but its director is appointed by the president. The France Médias holding project raised fears among unions and the left of easier government control.

According to sociology, public broadcasters' journalists are more independent from economic power than private media journalists. Reporters Without Borders notes that lack of permanent funding undermines public broadcasting.

Distrust of media is growing as information flows everywhere. The real issue is independence and quality, because without media independent from political and economic powers, there is no functioning democracy.

The main issue is governance: media companies are legally like any other, and whoever finances them governs. Le Monde and Mediapart show another way is possible, but it depends on billionaire shareholders' good will.

• Create a legal framework for media companies, as in Julia Cagé and Benoît Huet's book. • Journalists hold the majority on the board and must reinvest 70% of profits into the outlet. • Requirement to hire a majority of journalists, and aid reserved for media respecting these rules. • Adopt at minimum all articles of the Munich Charter.

Restore automatic funding politicians cannot touch, like the license fee. Journalists should also have a say in appointing leadership.

Stupmédia is funded mainly by its audience and guarantees free access to its productions, without advertising. Donations fund Argent Magique plus accounting and legal costs, salaries, and a small emergency fund.

The outlet also supports shows from collective members, programs like Les pieds dans le plat, and original articles by paid journalists.

Stupmédia aims to reach €5,000 in monthly donations to launch new projects, ensure sustainability, and contribute to press plurality and independence.

Viewers funded 10 episodes, and this is episode 9. The last will air in fall in September, followed by season 3 if the audience remains.