It’s not the watered sprinkler, it’s the duck duck. Le Canard enchaîné entangled in a story that he could well have denounced, a story of fictitious employment, close to the fictitious employment of the wife of a former minister then candidate for the presidential election, this must remind you of something …
To tell us about this case at Le Canard Enchaîné, William Erner speaks with Christopher Nobilijournalist, author of Dear Duck (JC Lattes, 2023).
A fictitious job at the Canard Enchaîné?
The journalist Christopher Nobili investigated for two years to reveal this affair which tarnishes the reputation of the famous duck today: the wife of a historical draftsman of the newspaper, André Escaro, would have been paid for years by the newspaper without providing the slightest work. Ironically, Christophe Nobili is also the journalist who revealed in the columns of the Canard in 2017 the Pénélope Fillon affair. He establishes in his book Dear Ducka parallel between these two cases. “We spent more money than François Fillon spent on his wife, Pénélope Fillon. We were in the order of a million euros, and concerning Edith Vandendaele, counting the charges, we are at almost three millions of euros.”.
Accused of attacking his own newspaper, already in decline, Christophe Nobilli considers him, that this money has been usurped from readers: “If it’s not public money, it’s money from our public, from our readers, those who pay our salaries. (…) These are not people who buy the newspaper for that we pay in the greatest opacity for 25 years, someone who has never worked.
Revelations that divide the editorial staff
When Christopher Nobili reveals the results of its investigation, the reactions within the editorial staff are diverse: “There is a drafting divided in two. (…) There are people who are consistent with their profession and another part of the drafting which has settled in an extremely surprising denial.” The journalist continues to practice today at Canard Enchaîné and has placed himself under the status of whistleblower.
A judicial inquiry has been opened and should continue in the coming months to establish the facts. For Christopher Nobili, it is essential to distinguish the drafting of those responsible in this case: “Justice will distinguish between the management and the editorial staff, between those who committed the facts, who are a small group of people, and the newspaper which is not responsible for this, which must continue to live with its values. “