A leading female figure in French journalism, Ruth Elkrief is known for her uncompromising frankness and her strong positions. His good and loyal services to TF1, then to BFM TV allowed him to rub shoulders with various positions such as television news, as well as social, economic and political televised debates. Like her other brothers and sisters, she does not escape the current debates on the salaries of men and women of the press. But what is Ruth Elkrief’s salary? How much is his fortune? In the following lines, we will focus on the emoluments of this outstanding journalist.
Ruth Elkrief was born on December 1, 1960 in Meknes, Morocco. As a teenager, she immigrated with her parents to France. Of Jewish origin, her great uncle was a rabbi named Chalom Messas. Ruth Elkrief is married to Claude Czechowski and they have two daughters. A graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Paris Journalists Training Center, she began her career working for the American agency AP (Associated Press), then joined the political department of the French daily “Le Morning of Paris”.
In 1987, she joined the French television channel TF1, then became a permanent correspondent in the United States in 1990. She then left her office in Washington to take over as head of the political department of TF1 and presented the 11 p.m. news on weekends.
Years later, the TF1 group launched its own news channel called LCI, and Ruth Elkrief was responsible for sharing the presentation of the “Grand Journal” with the future host of France 2, David Pujadas. From time to time, she is called upon to carry out daily interviews from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. In September 1999, TF1 broadcast its program entitled “7 p.m. Sunday”, in succession to “Sept sur Sept” presented by Anne Sinclair and “Public” by Michel Field.
In 2001, Ruth Elkrief turns to radio with the French radio RTL which hires her to present a daily political meeting for 2 years. From 2003 to 2005, she hosted the “Grand Jury”, a program broadcast on LCI and RTL, in partnership with the newspaper Le Monde. Alongside her activity in the media, she also taught journalism at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris in 2004. After LCI, Ruth Elkrief began presenting a program dedicated to cinema, “After the exit”, on the Five.
Since 2005, she has been a presenter and columnist at BFMTV. BFMTV, a new live news channel, appeared in 2005 in France. Ruth Elkrief, with 20 years of experience, is directly integrated into the team. It presents 2 daily half-hour newspapers, at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The following year, the channel unveiled its second version and gave it the 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. time slot, with national and international news, stock markets and press reviews.
From November 2006 and for a year and a half, Ruth Elkrief hosted, with Hedwige Chevrillon, a weekly political news meeting bringing together both BFMTV and BFM under the title “Le Duo BFM”. She then presented a program entitled “Elysée 2007” devoted to the presidential election and retained her time slot when the third version of BFMTV was launched in June 2007 and its program entitled “le 7pm Ruth Elkrief”.
During the first half of 2008, she continued her collaboration with Hedwige Chevrillon and joined Olivier Mazerolle on the show “La Tribune BFM”, a 60-minute program broadcast on Sundays at 6 p.m. The following summer, Ruth Elkrief received the insignia of the French “Légion d’Honneur” and hosted a program from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.: “le Midi Ruth Elkrief”.
Since 2010, Ruth Elkrief has embodied one of BFMTV’s most popular time slots “le 19h Ruth Elkrief” from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., where she offers the public all her knowledge and expertise in politics, and welcomes the actors of the news. In “le 7h de Ruth Elkrief”, she deciphers the news live with her guests, leading interviews and debates. Politicians, sociologists, specialists, writers or philosophers join its program and confront their points of view.
Like it or not, everyone agrees that Ruth Elkrief has talent. While quietly officiating at TF1, which is renowned for the generous salaries it pays to its journalists, this outspoken and immensely talented young woman took the gamble of creating a news channel in continued in a market that was already approaching saturation. She succeeded in her bet. Today BFM TV is one of the most watched French-speaking channels.
Ruth Elkrief’s timeslots are attracting ever-larger crowds of viewers. We may not agree with her positions or her reading of the news, but we always end up falling under her spell. Politicians of all persuasions appreciate his professionalism and many believe that confronting his vision with that of Ruth Elkrief is a must. The immense talent of Ruth Elkrief, who is however not one of the soft ones, convinced up to the highest peak of the State. In 2008, this veteran of politics was awarded the Legion of Honor, a decoration that the nation reserves for its most valiant workers.
Ruth Elkrief’s talent does not only make people happy. His person and his opinions are the subject of virulent criticism on blogs and social networks. There are many people who accuse him of lacking professionalism and of practicing “editocracy”. He is accused of only making partisan analyzes and of wanting to impose his point of view on his guests and his listeners. His slightest missteps are examined with a magnifying glass. On the occasion of the 2017 presidential elections in France, she had marked her solidarity with the fate of Pénélope Fillon, which she found unfair. This position earned him the harshest criticism. She was accused of collusion with the Fillon camp and many people recommended throwing her to the lions.
Her interview with Marine Lepen during the second round also led to a real outcry, supporters of the National Front believing that she was campaigning for candidate Emmanuel Macron. These complaints are not isolated cases. Each of the positions taken by this journalist is the subject of very long debates by the media. Far from constituting sufficient proof of a lack of professionalism, the criticisms formulated against Ruth Elkrief prove that she is a very listened voice on the French media scene. It should be remembered that she is paid to dissect the news on the spot and that there is no absolute truth.
Judging by Ruth Elkrief’s skills and performance, you would have thought she would top the salary charts. That no ! In the French media, there is no point in being hyper cultured or hyper efficient. Whatever task you take down, the buskers will and will continue to win more than you. To say that a journalist doubled as a fine political analyst earns less than people responsible for making jokes and jokes in bad taste!
According to the revelations of Télé 2 Semaines, this talented journalist receives a monthly salary of €15,000, half that of Anne-Claire Coudray, and a third of that of Jean-Pierre Pernaut. Alas, this kind of “scoop” is to be taken with a grain of salt because several journalists, animators and producers have already denounced the falsity of the figures put forward.
Those who are therefore interested in the fortune of Ruth Elkrief will be very disappointed, because it is almost impossible to amass a fortune with a salary that borders on the ridiculous. What is even more ridiculous is to see that the French cry wolf when they learn that a man from the media earns large salaries. The salary of this outstanding presenter should have mobilized feminists and defenders of the cause of women, but it is not. In France, it is not well seen that a man of the press has a personal fortune. For ordinary French people, the good journalist is the one who does negro work, who is appreciated by all and who receives a pittance. It’s a shame, but it’s the sad reality.
A graduate in journalism and political science, Ruth Elkrief is undoubtedly one of the most seasoned political columnists of her time. Co-founder of the BFM TV channel, she has been able through her broadcasts to attract an increasingly large audience to this channel, to the point of making it one of the giants of the French media scene. His salary unfortunately does not reflect his immense talent and Ruth Elkrief cannot claim to have any fortune. This situation constitutes a real injustice, because it is unimaginable that such a great talent could be remunerated in this way.