Unions protest ad ban

State TV, radio staff organize one-day strike

By BOBBIE WHITEMAN

Unions representing French state TV and radio staffers will hold a one-day strike and mass demonstration in Paris today to protest against President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to ban advertising on the nation's pubcasters.

"Fears are far from being eased, and the need to be heard tomorrow is urgent," the unions said in a statement issued after meeting Sarkozy's officials on Tuesday.

Sarkozy surprised industryites last month by announcing that he wanted to scrap ads on public TV and radio by Jan. 1, funding the revenue shortfall with a tax on private channels and on new technologies, such as the Internet and mobile phones.

Unions say the project has not been thought out and warn that state broadcasting would lose funds and audience share.

Unions have called for the 11,000 journalists and staffers from France Televisions channels France 2 and France 3, plus the staffers on news net France 24, Canal France Intl., Radio France and Radio France Intl., to protest the reform.

The strike call is backed by France's largest journalists union, the SNJ, which called on all media professionals to "mobilize to fight for the survival of public service broadcasting."

Presidential spokesman David Martinon said Sarkozy would address concerns shortly, adding that the estimated $1.2 billion advertising shortfall would be fully covered "euro by euro" by other revenue streams.

The Elysee reaffirmed that none of France Televisions' channels would be shuttered or privatized.

(David Hayhurst in Paris and wire services contributed to this report.)