«Le Peuple», the new right-wing media in French-speaking Switzerland. Interview with Raphaël Pomey8 reading minutes

The People will be published in French-speaking Switzerland this week as a bi-monthly paper magazine and as a newsletter. website. According to its editor Raphaël Pomey, who deplores the lack of diversity in the French-speaking media, this new medium will give a voice to people with sensibilities that are little heard today. Le Regard Libre welcomes the arrival of a new player on the journalistic scene in French-speaking Switzerland, and is one of the first four partners of the People. Time for conversation.

Le Regard LibreWhy found a new media outlet today?

Raphaël Pomey: In my classic journalistic career (first at the Matin Bleu, which later merged with 20 Minutes, then to Morning), I've always had good editors who have enabled me to cover the subjects I want to cover today with The People. Nevertheless, my sensibility has never been dominant in the media I've worked for, nor is it in the media in general. I was a journalist for around ten years, then I moved into communications, as spokesman for the Lausanne police for three and a half years. After that, I wanted to return to my journalistic profession, but I discovered that to be perfectly free, you had to create something from scratch, since diversity is sorely lacking in the press.

What role do you want to play in the media landscape in French-speaking Switzerland?

We have a wide range of media outlets that cover the news, but often with an editorial approach. Visit People, My partner Jérôme Burgener and I wanted first and foremost a medium that could react very quickly to the news. Of course, we have editorial content (which is what I like to do personally), but information is the heart of our newspaper. That's what sets us apart from a title like La Nation - very interesting, by the way - which is mainly opinionated. Its contributors don't even call themselves journalists. As far as we're concerned, we want to bring the experience of traditional media into a framework that isn't underpinned by political ideals that aren't our own by default.

So why the name «The People»? Isn't that a highly political notion?

It has to be said that for people on the left, «le peuple» evokes the extreme right, while for people on the right, «le peuple» sounds communist. To this contrast I would add a further variant: the Swiss Constitution, which begins «In the name of Almighty God! The people...». The idea is to say that the people don't belong to anyone, but that they do exist, quite simply, since many people think they are an irrelevant notion today. I like this notion, because I defend journalism that is open to the world, but also rooted in it. Journalism that expresses the sensibility of a part of the country, in this case the French-speaking part.

Let's come to the question of sensitivity. You talk about information, but your manifesto contains a number of politically charged positions. For example, the defense of a «traditional vision of the common good» and recognition of «the Judeo-Christian heritage of our civilization». How do you reconcile this with what you call non-editorial journalism?

We want non-editorial content that's still clearly delineated. We simply feel that facts and commentary are often mixed up. For example, last week I was listening to an RTS debate on abortion in the USA, in which all four speakers had the same position. Even if there's no comment from the journalist, the staging is already a comment in itself. It's not a question of forbidding ourselves from editorializing: editorializing is on our front page, and we have content that specifically editorializes. But when it comes to information, articles must be cold and rigorous.

Basically, you're more right-wing than left-wing?

Er... yes. (Laughter) From the outset, there's been a tension in this project between a certain conservatism that sometimes finds common ground with the left, and a liberal aspect that in economic matters is rather associated with the center-right. What makes us not a libertarian newspaper is that we defend a very specific cultural heritage, a traditional vision of the common good - we believe, for example, that the family must be protected from certain threats. And what makes us not left-wing conservatives is that we anchor these ideas in a defense of the free individual, a freedom of expression that we want to be almost total, a freedom of enterprise, and so on.

So your liberalism is more a general framework for the development of other ideas than a liberal ideology in the strongest sense of the word?

On a personal level, I largely identify with the Tocquevillian heritage (editor's note: according to Revue des deux Mondes, Le Regard Libre is also in a «Tocquevillian» liberal vein). Tocqueville observes that the world has moved on, and that there is no longer much point in hoping for the restoration of the monarchy, for example. Nonetheless, he does have a certain concern about certain excesses of democracy as he saw it in the United States. I think that in some respects we have entered into these drifts, which need to be combated, or at least tempered.

Read also | Individualism versus freedom: rereading Tocqueville

An example?

I believe that certain societal experiments have no place in schools, such as questions concerning gender theory. In the canton of Vaud, we had a press conference last year where, in plain English, we were told that children could freely choose their gender, and that they should be able to express their gender identity if it changed every day. Generally speaking, you get the impression that education has become a field for experimentation. That's not what I expect from a public service. Insofar as there is a state monopoly on schools, these people should be invited to exercise greater discretion. Or let's do the same for public schools and give us the same financial means to send our children to private schools.

On your website, you also state that the contributors to your new medium come from «a variety of Christian backgrounds». How denominational is your newspaper?

Our magazine comes from people who recognize themselves in a Christian heritage, a heritage which we consider to be fruitful and which nourishes some of our ideals. That said, we're not a Christian club. In the beginning, we were three Catholics and one Protestant; things are much more mixed today. What unites us, however, is a refusal of cultural masochism. We're happy to live where we do, proud of the richness of our tradition. In fact, the defense of a Christian heritage is the common denominator of the journal's contributors.

Read also | Liberalism and Christianity

What are your short- and long-term goals with The People?

So far, we've had to establish an editorial and graphic line. But we really want to go further. First of all, to set up a company within two months, since today we're still just an association. Then, to develop video formats, with more substantial finances than we hope to have in the short term. The aim: to be able to respond very quickly to current events by holding debates at home, live broadcasts on YouTube for example, and perhaps even having our own set. And, of course, we'll be publishing our bi-monthly throughout the year.

To conclude, let's talk a little about you. In 2020, you published an essay entitled Dancing the collapse - Churches in the age of cool, A critique of the attitude of certain Christian institutions which, in order to appear «cool», adopt the codes of communication, sometimes betraying the essence of their true message. Given your profile, you must be an avid reader. Which authors inspire you and why?

The list could go on. Chesterton, for example, influenced me a great deal for his joie de vivre and his defense of incarnation. Ersnt Jünger was a revelation for his defense of a certain individualism and forms of conservative anarchism. Nicolás Gómez Dávila appeals to me for a certain aesthetic of existence. Finally, I love Bernanos for his radical defense of freedom, but also his critique of modernity, which he shares with Charles Péguy, whom I also admire.

Write to the author: antoine.bernhard@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Patrick Gilliéron Lopreno