Blast (webTV)

Blast
Presentation
Hosted by	Denis Robert
Genre	Talk
Format	Audio video
Language	French
Publication
Provider	YouTube

Blast is a news site and web TV channel launched by investigative journalist Denis Robert. It operates as a collective interest cooperative and is funded through crowdfunding.

History

Blast was founded on 15 January 2021 in Paris by Denis Robert, after he was ousted from the editorial direction of Le Média. Several notable personalities, including Sabrina Ali Benali, Élise Van Beneden (president of Anticor since 2020), Pablo Servigne, David Dufresne, Bruno Gaccio, Gaspard Glanz, Gaël Giraud, Olivier Kautz, Florent Massot, Paloma Moritz, Alexis Poulin, Maxime Renahy, and Salomé Saqué, were among the founders.

Blast describes itself as a "free and independent media" and positions itself as a response "against authoritarianism" and "liberty violations." It covers topics like politics, ecology, investigative journalism, geopolitics, economics, health, justice, social struggles, and culture through reports, live events, columns, debates, interviews, conferences, in-depth articles, and training sessions.

In February 2021, Blast began a crowdfunding campaign at a time when La Croix published its 34th media barometer, showing historically low interest in news among the French population. After 23 days, 5,400 contributors raised over €500,000. A month later, €620,000 was collected from 6,500 contributors, far exceeding the initial goal of €100,000. This allowed Blast to hire 12 employees. By 11 March 2021 a total of €802,367 was raised from 8,542 donors. By the end of March, the amount had reached €923,031. According to Libération, this sum, while modest for launching a news site, was a record for such an initiative.

"Pagaille" – New Podcast Series

In late 2023, Blast launched a new podcast collection, Pagaille, focused on investigative reporting. Filmmaker Alexandre Héraud, formerly a journalist at France Culture and France Inter, reported from Verfeil-sur-Seye, a small village impacted by France's anti-terrorism efforts, when 60 police officers arrested two young residents in June 2023.

Televised Investigations

Blast has partnered with Off-investigation, a media platform founded by investigative journalist Jean-Baptiste Rivoire, who left Canal+ following disputes with billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Together, they produced the investigative series Emmanuel, a Businessman in the Élysée, a nine-episode series examining the darker aspects of Emmanuel Macron's presidency, especially conflicts of interest and lobbying by private entities. Some television channels rejected this investigation, leading Rivoire to create Off-investigation, funded through crowdfunding.

The first episode, Affaire Kohler: The Scandal That Threatens Macron, focuses on the links between Alexis Kohler, secretary general of the Élysée, and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), a global leader in maritime freight. The episode garnered 600,000 views in three days on YouTube, later exceeding 2 million.

Investigations

In July 2023, Blast exposed a potential conflict of interest involving MP Marc Ferracci during his appointment as co-rapporteur for the "full employment" bill. This investigation was picked up by Libération, but Ferracci denied any wrongdoing and announced plans to sue Blast.

Controversies

Funding Controversy

In March 2021, during its crowdfunding campaign, co-founder Maxime Renahy, a former financier and informant for French intelligence, quit Blast and alleged that businessman Hervé Vinciguerra, who had also funded the anti-corruption association Anticor, was behind the financing of Blast. However, Mediapart reported that months earlier, Blast had collectively decided to reject Vinciguerra's funding. In March 2024, Blast won a defamation lawsuit against Renahy, who appealed the decision.

Conspiracy Allegations

In November 2021, Blast published an article claiming the Syrian civil war was "orchestrated" by Qatar and France, based on a confidential document. Conspiracy Watch deemed the document dubious and accused Blast of conspiracy theorizing. The article suggested that philosopher Bernard-Henri Lévy (BHL) played a manipulative role, which Conspiracy Watch disputed, calling the document unauthenticated and asserting that many events preceded the alleged meeting detailed in the article. Blast responded with a formal rebuttal.

Internal Conflict and Dismissal of Serge Faubert

In May 2022, a conflict arose between Blast journalist Serge Faubert and his editors over a piece on activist Taha Bouhafs. Faubert felt censored when his editorial was critiqued, leading to his dismissal. Blast defended the decision, stating that Faubert's content lacked sufficient evidence. Faubert's departure led to the creation of a new media outlet, while 20 journalists at Blast affirmed the platform's editorial independence.

Accusations of Managerial Misconduct

In June 2023, Arrêt sur Images published an investigation detailing allegations of toxic management at Blast, particularly involving Denis Robert and Program Director Mathias Enthoven. Despite internal tensions and the involvement of labor authorities, Blast disputed or downplayed the claims.

Legal Dispute with Bernard-Henri Lévy

In June 2021, Bernard-Henri Lévy sued Blast for defamation over an article alleging a €9.1 million transfer from Qatar in 2011. In September, a Paris court dismissed the case, ruling that the claim was not defamatory. However, BHL appealed the decision and lost again, with the court ruling that the investigation had a sufficient factual basis.