Bernard Arnault, the CEO of the luxury conglomerate LVMH, is facing criticism from French media organizations – including those he controls. The reason is an internal memo prohibiting employees from contacting certain journalists.

In an open letter published on Tuesday in the national newspaper Le Monde, journalist unions expressed solidarity with the affected publications. They reminded Arnault that the "mission of the press" is not to disseminate "official corporate communication," but to inform the public. This, the authors stated, is "one of the fundamental pillars of democracy.

The letter was signed by unions of prominent French media such as Le Monde, Le Figaro, the news agency AFP, and the news channels France Télévision and BFM-TV. Employees of Les Echos and Le Parisien, which belong to Arnault's LVMH empire, also joined.

Arnault's memo, sent in January to executives of the LVMH group with a market value of 309 billion euros, bans any contact with journalists from seven publications, including La Lettre, Puck, and Médiapart. The document threatens employees with "serious consequences" for violations.

In their response, the journalists' associations emphasized that employees have the right to freedom of expression and association. Additionally, the prohibition is an unlawful attempt to circumvent the protection of whistleblowers.

This incident is part of a series of conflicts between media owners and journalists in France, a country whose media landscape is dominated by billionaires who use their media holdings to project influence and status.