On the Millevaches Plateau, two community media outlets fight for social cohesion
Radio Vassivière and Télé Millevaches give a voice to the inhabitants of the Millevaches plateau (France), despite economic difficulties.
Your eyes don’t know where to rest. Blue, mauve, yellow, off-white, a panoply of green. “There’s colour all year round,” says Teresa, wandering among the hundreds of plants in her food garden. Four highly attentive participants taste the edible plants as they follow the owner, who shares her infinite enthusiasm for identifying the many species in her “paradise”: myosotis, comfrey, lemon balm, with which she makes a herbal tea
One of these people, Amélie, is wearing a headset and holding a microphone. She’s discovering radio for the first time: “I’ve found a new vocation!” It’s 2.30pm in Bourganeuf. This afternoon, Teresa is hosting a radio workshop on edible plants, co-organized by Nini, a reporter for Radio Vassivière, and the “Chez Nous” association.
Radio workshops are at the heart of Radio Vassivière’s activities. In 2023, the association ran around 30 workshops across the Creuse, Haute-Vienne and Corrèze regions, with leisure centres, schools, as well as groups with disabilities, and refugees. “Introducing people to the medium of radio is one of our missions,” explains Nini, who has worked for the association for two years.
The social dimension is supported by European funds. For the period 2014-2022, Radio Vassivière was awarded 20,000 euro in European funding to purchase a mobile studio in Royère-de-Vassivière. Audrey Nallet, coordinator of the local taskforce (Groupe d’Action Local) of southern Creuse, assists local projects in obtaining European funds for the development of rural areas: “These are cohesion funds. They are intended for rural areas, with the aim of promoting economic development.” This year, Radio Vassivière is hoping to obtain European funding for a project involving sound beacons – marked hiking trails equipped with a listening device for local heritage and culture. “Placing cultural activities in the middle of nature adds value for tourists,” explains the radio presenter.
Radio as an antidote to isolation
The radio station of Limousin Mountain, as they call it, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Since 2021, on the Millevaches Plateau, it has had three studios and four antennas, which line the geographical limits of the Millevaches Regional Nature Park. The station reaches ears beyond Lake Vassivière, its historic birthplace. It was here, in 1984, that the Joint Union of Lake Vassivière created the association to liven up the summer tourist season.
Since then, the association has solidified its identity as a “local radio station”. It’s enough to step into the Royère-de-Vassivière library to see for yourself. As the librarians prepare to close for lunch, a child who visits regularly leaves with a stack of books under his arm: “See you later maybe!” Co-manager Rémy, 53, is delighted to talk about the role that radio plays in this sprawling region lacking in cultural infrastructure and mobility, where the hilly terrain makes for long journeys: “Radio highlights our activities and brings people in. It helps us to be less isolated, and to reach more people”.
This is also the case for Mélissa, 35. She’s been living on the plateau for a year and a half, in Royère-de-Vassivière. This stay-at-home mother listens to the radio almost every day: “They give good tips on the area, like activities for children, which helps to build bridges. And I love all the features in the early afternoon, where people tell their own stories: giving birth at home, edible and medicinal plants that grow on the plateau…”
Just a few kilometers from here is Télé Millevaches, the audiovisual counterpart of Radio Vassivière, founded in 1986. Its headquarters in Faux-la-Montagne look no different from the other houses in this village of 450 inhabitants. Behind the bay window, a young man doing voluntary community service is busy with a camera. Wednesday afternoon is time for “social service”, says Florent, who has been on the payroll for two years: “We train people for free, but it doesn’t pay anything. We help people with film projects, or people who just want to watch old VHS tapes. We also lend stuff out”. Day to day, the association also organises media education workshops and film projects. These activities account for 15 percent of their budget.
Two visions of local media
Above all, these two community media outlets tell the day to day story of their region. Fabien, a reporter for Radio Vassivière, is on his way to report on children at a leisure centre who are seeing the circus for the first time. Between two puffs of cigarette, the man who wouldn’t call himself a journalist describes the role of radio: “I come from the Paris suburbs, an area neglected by the state. It’s the same here. We have to give a voice to local people, by interviewing them and meeting with them.” By amplifying local voices, with little politicisation, Radio Vassivière inherits radio’s original gift for the promotion of localities. “To be relevant to everyone, we have to be generalist, and rooted in the area,” says Fabien
Conversely, Télé Millevaches takes a more pronounced political stance. Written on the board for editorial meetings, ideas include “rural queer”, “cutbacks” and “associative freedoms and the war on subsidies”. Frank, in charge of media, agrees: “We have our place. A lot of people see us as a good thing, but for a long time now, we’ve been showing our teeth.”
The station has indeed come a long way. Created in the 1980s, it was intended to show what was going on in the area, with monthly “newsbreaks”. Today, the rhythm is more disjointed, and the documentary approach is more assertive. “We acknowledge our bias, but we still try to do the work of journalists: allowing contradictory views, balanced speaking time, a microphone for all voices,” Florent explains.
Some of the station’s reports have reached national awareness, and garner “tens of thousands of views”. This is the case with a report on the efforts of environmental activists to prevent the clearcutting of the Bois du Chat forest. In this part of France, forestry projects are the subject of intense protests. The station’s coverage of these issues opens it to criticism. “People see us as an activist media outlet. Yes, our work is activism. And some might say this pejoratively. But we give a voice to everyone,” says one of the new faces on the team, Manon, a journalist by training.
Local roots
Both stations are firmly rooted in their local communities. In their respective teams, several employees were volunteers before being hired. On a voluntary basis, Radio Vassivière reporters Fabien and Nini still host the weekly programs that were their first introduction to the station. This double participation is testament to just how much volunteer work goes into running the stations. Every weekday, Radio Vassivière has to provide twelve hours of its own programming, including four hours of local interest content. This rhythm would be unsustainable with just eight employees and the equivalent of five full-time jobs. Thus, according to the association’s 2023 activity report, 28 segments or broadcasts are hosted by volunteers.
To gain a better understanding of its penetration of the Limousin mountain region, between Creuse, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne, Radio Vassivière commissioned Médiamétrie to carry out listener surveys. In 2022, the station had an overall audience – those who listen at least once or twice a week – of 65,400 individuals. On the scale of the Millevaches Regional Nature Park, that’s more listeners than there are inhabitants (38,950 according to the park authorities).
Up above Lake Vassivière, in the Télé Millevaches offices, they admit they don’t really know their audience numbers. “Broadcasting has always been the fifth wheel,” admits Frank, an employee for almost twelve years. “We were never concerned about being read or watched, we were fine with keeping a low profile.” The station keeps in touch with local residents by organising public viewings of its reports to stimulate discussion. “The aim is to get people talking and mixing. At one of the most recent screenings, about a priest’s retirement, we filled the Eymoutiers cinema – 120 seats!” enthuses Florent.
A “red list” of associations
And why would they focus on audience figures, when the station’s economic model relies on 70 percent on subsidies? Recently, however, the outlook has changed quite dramatically. Towards the end of 2023, the association was faced with the prospect of 30,000 euro from the Community Social Information Media Support Fund (FSMISP) slipping through its fingers. Two other independent media outlets in the Limousin region were affected: IPNS and La Trousse Corrézienne.
The Creuse and Regional prefectures wanted to weaken a “red list” of associations deemed too politically committed to the left. In an August 2023 article in Le Monde, sources at the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) in Nouvelle-Aquitaine said that the prefectures had given orders for subsidies to be stopped. Until the end of 2023, articles and reports continued to appear about the missing funds. “The day after a France 3 report on the subject, everyone had their money. But that doesn’t mean they won’t try it again next year,” warns Florent. When contacted, the Creuse prefecture did not answer our questions.
Local affections for the two associations are hardly universal. Jean-François Tixier, President of the Creuse Chamber of Commerce and Industry, doubts the positive role these associations can play in the economic development of the department: “What area or population is going to listen? It’s not received in Guéret, so there’s a part of Creuse that can’t listen. And within their broadcast range, there’s a lack of commercial activity.
The economy of the plateau, based on associations or the social economy, is ephemeral. It’s 80 percent subsidised”. Tixier even thinks that certain reports are damaging to the image of the plateau: “As for the forest, they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re revolutionaries. If the state has to cut subsidies to associations, it can do it here. If they can’t come up with a working economic model, then there’s no reason for it to exist”.
As a result of such “intimidation”, Télé Millevaches is thinking about changing its model. The team has started thinking about donations. This would be accompanied by an overhaul of its editorial principles, which has already begun: short reports for social networks, and major interviews with local and national figures for video platforms. “The more visible and popular we are, the more support we’ll get, and the better we can stand up to the prefecture, which wants to bury us”, Florent argues.
Worn-out employees
The new formula appeals to Théo, 29, who returned to the plateau five years ago. Having watched tapes of Télé Millevaches news reports until the early 2000s, he appreciates the station’s metamorphosis: “With their presence on social networks, I see a lot more reports and news briefs from Télé Millevaches. The coverage of fresh news stories is addictive”. Théo says he’s ready to support a new business model: “I’d be tempted to make regular donations to a media outlet that’s accessible to everyone”.
Budgetary issues weigh heavily on the daily lives of the associations’ employees. This is acknowledged in the station’s 2023 General Assembly report: “Despite a good working atmosphere, Télé Millevaches is wearing out its employees. Those who remain are going to have to address this”. Maude, who recently took over management of the “workshops” department, is replacing an employee who “ended up exhausted” after three years on the payroll. In her opinion, the “self-management” approach, with no fixed hierarchy, didn’t help: “He had to give a lot of himself, and nobody came and said stop. That’s one of the problems: everyone is responsible for how and when they work”.
Maïlys has been Radio Vassivière’s administrative officer since January. Growing up in Peyrelevade, Corrèze, she saw her parents participate in the early years of Télé Millevaches. At Radio Vassivière, she’s already noticed how tired the teams are as they chase subsidies. “We have to satisfy a lot of partnerships, and a lot of people. We’re in demand. Staff turnover is also really high. More than half the team has changed in two years.” In the Télé Millevaches offices, Maude has to wonder: “It’s incredible that something like this exists here, but how long will it last?”
This article was produced as part of The Newsroom 27 competition, organised by Slate.fr with the financial support of the European Union. The article reflects the views of the author and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for its content or use.
