Sarah Ichou is director of Bondy Blog. She is a guest on the third season of Chemins, the podcast by Médianes.
In this episode of *Chemins*, I’m joined by Sarah Ichou, who has been the director of the Bondy Blog since 2023—a media outlet born out of the urgency of the 2005 riots, following the tragic deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré. This blog, conceived by the Swiss magazine L’Hebdo, was only supposed to last three months. But what was meant to be a temporary project grew, driven by a single ambition: to give working-class neighborhoods a voice and a presence. Today, Sarah embodies a new generation at the helm of a media outlet that has always sought to share stories and expertise. How does a media outlet conceived as temporary become a lasting force? How do you manage a media outlet that trains and supports talent while accepting that they will eventually move on to other horizons?
The Origins of the Bondy Blog: A Media Outlet Born Out of Necessity
In 2005, France was rocked by riots in numerous cities and suburbs following the deaths of Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré in Clichy-sous-Bois after a police chase. Against this backdrop of social tensions and biased portrayals of the suburbs in traditional media, the Bondy Blog was launched. Originally, the blog emerged from an initiative by Serge Michel at the Swiss newspaper L’Hebdo, which sent journalists to the scene to document the reality on the ground.
“The Bondy Blog was born out of a sense of urgency. The urgency to tell stories, to bring those stories to life with dignity. Back then, residents of working-class neighborhoods were neither heard nor seen by the mainstream media. So this project was born as a band-aid: to represent ourselves.”
When it first started, the Bondy Blog wasn't intended to be a long-term media outlet.
“You don’t wake up one morning and say to yourself, ‘We’re going to start a media outlet—here’s the business plan, and here’s the team.’” It was an immediate response to a pressing problem. Today, almost 20 years later, we’re still here, telling stories. Nothing has been resolved, and sometimes things are even worse.”
A school media outlet
The Bondy Blog is not just a media outlet; it is also a kind of open school where aspiring journalists can learn the trade without necessarily having the background or credentials traditionally expected in the profession. This dual role is what defines its identity today.
“Our editorial meetings are open to everyone. Anyone can come and propose an idea, learn, and get support. But this requires a commitment from the team that goes far beyond traditional journalism. We don’t just learn to write—we support one another and pass on our knowledge.”
Some might nevertheless think that such a model, where anyone can write and produce information, could harm the media's journalistic rigor and give an impression of amateurism.
“I’ve often heard people say, ‘You have to choose: either you’re a media outlet, or you’re a school.’ But why choose? The people who come to the Bondy Blog learn by doing. What they produce is journalism, with the same rigor as professional journalists. We are both a launching pad and a learning environment. And criticism—whether for better or worse—also forces us to be even more impeccable.”
Journalism that stands by its commitments
Sarah Ichou champions a vision of journalism deeply rooted in commitment. In her view, the notion that a journalist could be entirely neutral or objective is not only an illusion, but also a denial of the reality of the profession.
“I don’t understand this idea that we should apologize for being committed. Every journalist is committed in one way or another: in their choice of words, their choice of topics, and the tone they use. When people in the field tell me they aren’t committed, it doesn’t reassure me. I think to myself: Why are you even doing this job? If it’s not with commitment, why do it at all?”
“At the Bondy Blog, we cover topics that move us, that matter to us. It’s not activism—it’s honesty. I much prefer someone who stands by their point of view to a robot that claims to be completely objective.”
Run the Bondy Blog
Sarah Ichou published her first article on the Bondy Blog at age 14, and has remained closely involved with the publication ever since. She now serves as its editor-in-chief and brings a unique perspective to this role, one shaped by a deep appreciation for legacy and the passing down of knowledge.
“Being the editor-in-chief of the Bondy Blog is both a privilege and a huge responsibility. You can’t understand this media outlet unless you’ve experienced it from the inside. It’s like an old car: you have to know how to turn the key to get it started.”
“You can’t just show up and say, ‘Okay, this is how it’s going to be—we’re going to implement this management style, this principle’… No. The Bondy Blog isn’t a startup with a ping-pong table and people wearing Stan Smiths. The Bondy Blog is a school, a newsroom, a place where we conduct investigations and sometimes speak in the first person, featuring both in-depth articles and funny content on social media. It’s a deeply hybrid place. To understand all of this, you really have to have spent quite a bit of time around here. You have to know its history: be aware of everything the Bondy Blog stands for, and all the difficult phases the outlet has had to face.”
Diriger le Bondy Blog, c’est aussi accepter de s’y investir entièrement. Une mission qui peut devenir épuisante, tant elle demande un investissement personnel intense. À propos de Nordine Nabili, cofondateur et ex directeur du Bondy Blog, StreetPress écrivait en 2020 : « Voilà cinq ans que Nordine Nabili, le directeur historique, a quitté son poste. Il en est sorti lessivé. “J’étais obsédé par la gestion des découverts, par payer tout le monde en temps et en heure.” De manière plus personnelle, il raconte son “tunnel de dix ans, où [il n’a] pas vu grandir [ses] mômes”. “C’était épuisant.” »
Sarah Ichou is aware of this pressure, but she knows it’s temporary. “When you take up the torch, you know you’re putting your life on hold. You’re constantly in demand, and you feel that pressure to always do better. On the other hand, we know there’s a beginning and an end. We know that at some point, we’ll pass the torch because it’s healthy to do so. It’s a very intense commitment for a certain period of time. I was given the same advice you’d give an athlete: adopt a healthy lifestyle, get a good night’s sleep, and drink water.”
A first fundraising campaign
Faced with a reduction in its subsidies, the Bondy Blog must now find new ways to survive and continue to grow.
“Producing news costs money. But with us, everything is free: access, content, and training. Yet all of this comes at a cost. We’re therefore asking our readers to support us by participating in our first fundraising campaign so we can remain free and independent.”
Despite the challenges, Sarah Ichou emphasizes the Bondy Blog's ability to find solutions. Resilience is a defining feature of its identity.
“We were always told, ‘The door is locked.’ So we learned to climb in through the window. That’s our strength: never giving up, finding solutions even when time is of the essence.”
She sees the current fundraising effort as a necessary step toward ensuring the outlet’s long-term viability: “After 20 years, it’s time for the Bondy Blog to have the resources to match its ambitions and fully realize its independence.”
Training and letting go: a newsroom as a springboard
The Bondy Blog has always served as a springboard for its members, training journalists who go on to pursue their careers at other news organizations.
“The Bondy Blog is a school, and it’s essential that it remains one. But we’d like to be able to keep our talented people around longer, to offer them stability. That requires expanding our resources. But on the other hand, I think we shouldn’t be selfish. We also have to recognize that it may be necessary to let people go so they can come back stronger. Many do just that, because the Bondy Blog is a family.”
"Chemins" is a podcast produced by Médianes. Season 3 is hosted by Marine Slavitch and produced by Morgan Prudhomme. The sound design is by Nicolas Peiron, and the visual design is by Christelle Perrin.
