RTBF in Turmoil: News Director Removed, MR Board Members Resign
Belgium’s French-language public broadcaster, RTBF, is navigating a profound institutional crisis as it simultaneously bids farewell to its long-serving news director and faces a political revolt on its board of directors. Jean-Pierre Jacqmin’s 18-year tenure as Director of Information and Sports officially ended on May 31, while all five representatives of the liberal MR party resigned from the board of directors on May 29, citing governance failures and a breakdown of trust with board chairperson Joëlle Milquet.
A Generational Change at the Helm of News
Jean-Pierre Jacqmin, who joined RTBF in 1987 after passing the broadcaster’s rigorous journalist exam, leaves a legacy spanning nearly four decades. He created and hosted the flagship morning program “Matin Première” from 1994 before becoming Director of Information and Sports in 2008. His career saw him cover the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Romanian revolution, the Yugoslav wars, and multiple space missions, as RTBF reported in a farewell article published on June 1.
Jacqmin will remain at RTBF for one more year in an advisory capacity, supporting his successor Thomas Gadisseux and focusing on ethics, international partnerships, and public engagement. In his farewell interview, he quoted journalist Albert Londres, saying: “Our job is not to please, nor to harm, it is to put the pen in the wound.” He expressed confidence that “soon, information will have to be better protected and the teams that produce it more respected.”
His successor, Thomas Gadisseux, a 43-year-old journalist from Mouscron, officially began his six-year mandate on June 1. He steps into a role that has become significantly more politically charged than anticipated.
Political Earthquake on the Board
On the evening of May 29, MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez announced on X that all five MR representatives on the RTBF board of directors had resigned with immediate effect and would not be replaced. According to VRT NWS, Bouchez stated: “Given the unpredictable functioning of the RTBF board of directors and the lack of willingness for consensus and transparency, the 5 MR board members have resigned.”
The board of directors comprises 13 seats: 5 for MR (liberals), 5 for socialist-leaning parties (PTB, Ecolo, PS), and 3 for Les Engagés (centrists), with Joëlle Milquet of Les Engagés serving as chairperson. The MR accuses Milquet of operating with “shifting majorities” that systematically exclude liberal voices from decision-making.
The Procedural Dispute
The immediate trigger for the resignations was the appointment process for the new news director. The MR’s specific complaint centers on procedure rather than the candidate himself. Only one candidate — Thomas Gadisseux — passed the selection process, which the MR argues undermined the board’s ability to make a meaningful choice.
Bouchez specifically cited the candidacy of Laurent Haulotte, former news director at RTL, whose application was rejected late in the process due to a diploma requirement that, according to the MR, could have been raised much earlier. This, Bouchez argued in an interview with La Libre, exemplifies the governance problems at the broadcaster.
Rudy Aernoudt, Bouchez’s chief of staff, elaborated on Radio 1’s De Ochtend: “It’s not just about appointments. It’s about something that has been simmering for a long time.” He added: “If the chairperson constantly brings the left on board, then it’s pointless for us.”
Political Reactions and Implications
The crisis has drawn sharp reactions across the political spectrum. PS chairman Paul Magnette criticized the MR’s move, calling it “a new attack on the autonomous public broadcaster” and accusing the MR of attempting to politicize the appointment process.
The resignations come at a politically sensitive time for the MR. A major poll published on May 29 — the same day as the board resignations — showed the MR losing nearly a third of its voters in Wallonia and Brussels. The party’s confrontational stance may reflect an electoral strategy to rally its base and project strength amid declining poll numbers.
What Lies Ahead
The crisis raises several pressing questions. With five of thirteen board seats now vacant, RTBF’s governance capacity is significantly impaired. The MR and Les Engagés are both members of the federal “Arizona” coalition government, raising the possibility that this boardroom battle could spill over into federal politics.
For Thomas Gadisseux, the new news director, the challenge ahead is formidable: he must navigate a deeply politicized governance environment while maintaining the journalistic independence that Jacqmin championed throughout his career. As Jacqmin himself warned in his farewell: “A society that does not base its decisions on reality, on honesty in the face of truth, is a society in which the public no longer believes.”
The coming weeks will determine whether the MR returns to the board under new conditions, whether legislative changes to RTBF governance structures are pursued, and whether the broadcaster can emerge from this crisis with its editorial independence intact.