On Thursday, October 9, 2025, under the presidency of Marie-Christine Saragosse, CEO of France Médias Monde (FMM), the group’s Administrative Board approved a revised 2025 budget with a deficit limited to €1 million, a significant reduction compared to the budget approved on December 12, 2024 (-€4.9 million). The nearly €10 million gap between the initial level of public funding and the trajectory outlined in the 2024-2028 draft contract of objectives and means (COM) led France Médias Monde to implement systematic savings and rationalisation efforts during 2025, coupled with:
- a €2 million increase in public funding compared to the initial budget, following the adoption of several amendments during the examination of the draft finance bill. This increase aims to ‘respond to the information war that is raging (…) [and] to safeguard the “information rearmament” effort.’
- an additional €2 million in public development aid (programme 209) to support France Médias Monde’s international missions, particularly to enable emergency actions in Eastern Europe, such as strengthening RFI România’s offering to Moldova and reinforcing RFI’s resources in Russian.
Additionally, ongoing negotiations concerning certain France Médias Monde media distribution relays, if successful, are expected to enable the company to break even in 2025.
Update on the ‘Information Shield’ project with Deutsche Welle
At the start of the meeting, Marie-Christine Saragosse welcomed Barbara Massing, the new Director General of Deutsche Welle (DW), who succeeded Peter Limbourg on October 1, 2025. Ms Massing had travelled specially from Berlin to reaffirm to the Administrative Board’s members the importance of cooperation between Deutsche Welle and France Médias Monde, particularly regarding their two joint offerings, ‘ENTR’ and ‘InfoMigrants’. Her presence provided an opportunity for a joint progress report on the ‘Information Shield’ project, developed by France Médias Monde in partnership with Deutsche Welle in response to the United States’ disengagement from international news coverage. This project, which involves a coordinated development plan for FMM and DW activities, including strengthening certain offerings and launching new languages, was discussed by the French and German governments at the Franco-German Council of Ministers meeting on August 29, resulting in a declaration of support from both countries.
Successful development of local projects
In addition to strengthening RFI România’s coverage of Moldova on air and digitally since early August, France Médias Monde’s Administrative Board commended the commitment and responsiveness of its teams for the deployment of new international local projects. These initiatives are funded by a grant from the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs as part of its public aid programme.
A few months after the launch of FMM’s Near and Middle East hub in Beirut, Lebanon, where a pan-Arab editorial team has strengthened France 24’s digital offerings in Arabic and MCD, the group launched ‘ZOA’ on October 1. ZOA is a 100% digital media outlet designed by and for young French-speaking Africans on social media. Based at FMM’s African hub in Dakar, where RFI’s Mandinka and Fulfulde editorial teams also operate, ZOA’s editorial team comprises around ten journalists from five African countries, supported by a network of correspondents in 11 countries across the continent. Just days after its launch, ZOA already obtained nearly 2 million video views across West Africa.
