( President Mitterrand reading The Le Monde )
THE LE MONDE: A HISTORIC NEWSPAPER
PUBLISHED FROM PARIS
Le Monde and Le Figaro are two main French newspapers read in France. Both are being published from Paris. Le Monde has a good readership on account of its international news and a little centre-left editorial stance. Le Figaro, the second-largest national newspaper in France, after Le Monde, has a centre-right editorial stance and is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The Liberation (centre-left editorial stance), Le Parisien, and Les Echos are also some prominent newspapers of France. Founded by famous philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and journalist Serge July, Liberation started with a rather revolutionary stance following the protests of May 1968. Founded in 1942 as the newspaper of the French Resistance, Le Parisien (The Parisian) is dedicated to news of the Paris region is the best newspaper to follow if one is interested in Paris-related news and events. Les Echos newspaper is focused on business and economics. Founded in 1908, it is owned by the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. The paper is known for its liberal economic stance and its readership of decision-makers.
Published in French and English, Le Monde is one of the most trusted newspapers in France. It was also one of the first French papers to establish an online edition. In 2023, lemonde.fr served 20 million pages a day, reaching an audience of more than 500,000 subscribers. The English edition of Le Monde was started in 1969 and faced many difficulties and had to be closed down. Since its re-launch in April 2022, the English edition of 'Le Monde' has offered a selection of articles that reflect the richness of the French editorial staff's journalism. Throughout its history, Le Monde has proclaimed its European convictions, but without making Europe the beating heart of its editorial line.
Founded by Hubert Beuve-Méry at the request of Charles de Gaulle (as Chairman of the Provisional Government of the French Republic) on 19 December 1944, shortly after the Liberation of Paris from the German army, it has published continuously since its first edition. Le Monde took over the format of Le Temps because the latter ceased publication in November 1942, shortly after German forces occupied the entire territory of France during World War II. Le Temps was the most important newspaper of the French Republic, particularly among the French political and economic elite.
Beuve-Méry rarely rubbed shoulders with politicians. He had little interest in dinners where the gossip of the times was gleaned, and didn't seek out the company of celebrities or the powerful. He was known as a firm, fair and fearless journalist in France.
Among many thousands of some VVIPs and important people, some prominent readers of the Le Monde could be listed as Pablo Picasso, Albert Camus, Zhou Enlai, Jean-Paul Descombey, Andre Malraux, Charles de Gaulle, Francois Mitterrand, Nicolas Sarkozy and actor Jean-Paul Belmondo, Mrs Indira Gandhi, JRD Tata, artist SH Raza and Shashi Tharoor. And in 1981, when Sorbonne University decided to honour Mrs Indira Gandhi with the doctorate honoris causa, Le Monde brought out an Indian supplement for the event. And Mrs Gandhi surprised all at the Sorbonne by her flawless speech in French. During this visit, one of Mrs Gandhi's most off-beat programmes was a meeting with a select group of intellectuals at the gorgeous Pompidou Centre in Paris. Speaking fluent French, Mrs Gandhi mingled with them in a closed session to which journalists were not invited.
The 'Le Monde' has lately moved to a New building that is also an architectural wonder. With the completion of its new headquarters, the 1,600 employees of the Le Monde Group have been brought together under the same roof in a generously arching building on 67-69 Avenue Pierre-Mendes-France in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. The previous headquarters were located at Boulevard Auguste-Blanqui, also in the 13th arrondissement. With its bold new plaza and semi-transparent outer skin, the new building creates connections to the general public and surrounding transit while also offering citizens and passersby a generous respite in the city. A translucent, dynamic façade and expansive public plaza express the building’s openness to its surrounding context. The Snohetta Architects, a reputed company from Norway, designed the new building for the headquarters of Le Monde. The architecture of the new headquarters is guided by concepts of openness and transparency of the Norwegian society and reflects a unified Paris.
My friend Kamal Hak informs me this:-
"In 1993, Le Monde was perhaps the first European newspaper to carry a story on the exodus of the Kshmiri Pandits. I recall talking to its correspondent for a long time. It all happened due to the efforts of M.L. Kotru, who was the editor of the Statesman newspaper then. The exodus story was immediately followed by the German newspaper 'Der Spiegel' with the help provided by M L Kotru ."
And I am informed by a friend that M L Kotru paid a heavy price for supporting hapless Kashmiri Pandits at that critical juncture. The management at the Statesman newspaper fired him for his open support to the cause of the Kashmiri Pandits, who became the soft targets of the Pakistan-trained terrorists and their sympathisers in the Kashmir valley.Although the newspaper management did not mention that he was being dismissed because of the Kashmiri Pandit story, but the Press Club of India was convinced that this highly reputed editor was dismissed , so suddenly and disgracefully only for his explicit support to the cause of the Kashmiri Pandits.
In Paris, I bought a copy of the newspaper in French from a bookstore for 5.50 Euros; a souvenir to carry back to India. It is cheaper monthly and quite cheap for online reading. The price of a digital subscription to Le Monde in English is €3.99/month for the first year, then reverts to €14.99/month. There is also a yearly plan for €43.99 for the first year, then €109.99 per year. I conclude this story of the Le Monde newspaper with a quote from Thomas Jefferson, former President of the United States of America:-
“Were it left to me to decide if we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.
( Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.