JOURNALISTS for public radio and television walked out on strike across France today in protest at the proposed abolition of the licence fee.

Employees of France Televisions and Radio France were joined by workers from France 24, Arte and other media organisations at a rally in the capital Paris before marching to the National Assembly. 

The licence fee costs €138 (£115) per year however it is set to be scrapped in plans announced by French President Emmanuel Macron. 

He wants to replace it with direct funding from central government, although he has not set out detailed information. 

Mr Macron says the idea is part of his broader goal of lower taxes, but strikers fear for the future of independent public broadcasting. 

“Abolishing the licence fee, an allocated resource, means making public broadcasting more precarious and impoverished by shifting it to the general state budget” and making it sensitive “to arbitration and constant political pressure,” a joint union statement said. 

The French government has insisted that it remains committed to “a strong public media” and pledged to commit to its continued funding from the state budget.   

But the National Union of Journalists national secretary Raoul Advocat said that the amount of money allocated by the government could change at a whim each year, affecting the long-term future of public broadcasting.

Radio France boss Sybile Veil warned that any savings made would inevitably lead to cuts in the services it currently provides.  

The head of France’s media watchdog, Arcom, Roch-Olivier Maistre, said that there needs to be a mechanism for “long-term funding and stability” as well as “visibility and independence.”