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Le Figaro

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Expand French Template:Infobox newspaper

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} ({{#invoke:IPA|main}}) is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Beaumarchais (1732–1799): Le Barbier de Séville, La Mère coupable, and the eponymous Le Mariage de Figaro. One of his lines became the paper's motto: "Without the freedom to criticise, there is no flattering praise".

The oldest national newspaper in France,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} is considered a French newspaper of record,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> along with {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and Libération.<ref name=":0" /> Since 2004, the newspaper has been owned by Dassault Group. Its editorial director has been Alexis Brézet since 2012.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref> Le Figaro is the second-largest national newspaper in France, after Le Monde.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It has a centre-right editorial stance and is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Other Groupe Figaro publications include Le Figaro Magazine, TV Magazine and Evene. The paper is published in Berliner format.

HistoryEdit

File:Premier numéro du Figaro.jpg
6th issue, 20 January 1826
File:Figaro 4 aout 1914.jpg
lang}}, 4 August 1914

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was founded as a satirical weekly in 1826,<ref name=bbc11>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> taking its name and motto from Le Mariage de Figaro, the 1778 play by Pierre Beaumarchais that poked fun at privilege. Its motto, from Figaro's monologue in the play's final act, is "Sans la liberté de blâmer, il n'est point d'éloge flatteur" ("Without the freedom to criticise, there is no flattering praise"). In 1833, editor Nestor Roqueplan fought a duel with a Colonel Gallois, who was offended by an article in {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, and was wounded but recovered.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Albert Wolff, Émile Zola, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Théophile Gautier, and Jules Arsène Arnaud Claretie were among the paper's early contributors. It was published somewhat irregularly until 1854, when it was taken over by Hippolyte de Villemessant.

In 1866, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} became a daily newspaper.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its first daily edition, that of 16 November 1866, sold 56,000 copies, having highest circulation of any newspaper in France. Its editorial line was royalist.<ref>Alan Grubb, The Politics of Pessimism: Albert de Broglie and Conservative Politics in the Early Third Republic</ref> Pauline Savari was among the contributors to the paper at this time.

On 20 February 1909 {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} published a manifesto signed by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti which initiated the establishment of Futurism in art.<ref>Template:Cite thesis</ref>

On 16 March 1914, Gaston Calmette, the editor of {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, was assassinated by Henriette Caillaux, the wife of Finance Minister Joseph Caillaux, after he published a letter that cast serious doubt on her husband's integrity.<ref>Sarah Sissmann and Christophe Barbier, "Une épouse outragée" Template:Webarchive, L'Express, 30 August 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref> In 1922, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was purchased by perfume millionaire François Coty.<ref>Janet Flanner (3 May 1930),"Perfume and Politics", The New Yorker. Republished 7 May 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref> Abel Faivre did cartoons for the paper.<ref name="WDL">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Coty enraged many in March 1929 when he renamed the paper simply Figaro, which it remained until 1933.<ref>Roulhac Toledano, Elizabeth Z. Coty, "Napoleon of the Press","François Coty: Fragrance, Power, Money". Retrieved 28 May 2018</ref>

By the start of World War II, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} had become France's leading newspaper. After the war, it became the voice of the upper middle class, and continues to maintain a conservative position.

File:Figaro 1923.JPG
Share of the Société du Figaro, issued 13 June 1923

In 1975, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was bought by Robert Hersant's Socpresse. In 1999, The Carlyle Group obtained a 40% stake in the paper, which it later sold in March 2002. Since March 2004, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has been controlled by Serge Dassault,<ref name=bbc11/> a conservative businessman and politician best known for running the aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, which he inherited from his father, its founder, Marcel Dassault (1892–1986). Dassault owns 80% of the paper, by way of its media subsidiary Groupe Figaro.<ref name=bbc11/>

Franz-Olivier Giesbert was editorial director of Le Figaro from 1998 to 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2006, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} was banned in Egypt and Tunisia for publishing articles allegedly insulting Islam.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

{{#invoke:Lang|lang}} switched to Berliner format in 2009.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The paper has published The New York Times International Weekly on Friday since 2009, an 8-page supplement featuring a selection of articles from The New York Times translated into French. In 2010, Lefigaro.fr created a section called Le Figaro in English,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which provides the global English-speaking community with daily original or translated content from {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}Template:'s website. The section ended in 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the 2010s, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} saw future presidential candidate Éric Zemmour's columns garner great interest among readers that would later serve to launch his political career.<ref>"Présidentielle 2022 : Zemmour se retire du Figaro pour la promotion de son livre, un pas de plus vers une candidature ?", Le Parisien (in French), 1 September 2021.</ref>

Edit

  • Le Figaro logo 1826 - Gallica.jpg

    Logo during the 1820s

  • Le Figaro Logo 1854.png

    Logo from an 1854 issue

  • Logo du Figaro 1920.png

    Logo since the 1920s

  • Le Figaro Logo 1952.png

    Logo of Le Figaro from a 1952 issue

Editorial stance and controversiesEdit

Template:Conservatism in France {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} has traditionally held a conservative editorial stance, becoming the voice of the French upper and middle classes.<ref name=":2" /> More recently, the newspaper's political stance has become more centrist.Template:Cn

The newspaper's ownership by Serge Dassault was a source of controversy in terms of conflict-of-interest, as Dassault also owned a major military supplier and served in political positions from the Union for a Popular Movement party. His son Olivier Dassault served as a member of the French National Assembly.<ref>"Dassault se sépare d'Yves de Chaisemartin", {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 1 October 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref> Dassault has remarked in an interview in 2004 on the public radio station France Inter that "newspapers must promulgate healthy ideas" and that "left-wing ideas are not healthy ideas."<ref>"M. Dassault veut une presse aux « idées saines »", {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 12 December 2004. Retrieved 27 January 2007.</ref>

In February 2012, a general assembly of the newspaper's journalists adopted a motion accusing the paper's managing editor, Étienne Mougeotte, of having made {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} into the "bulletin" of the governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, of the government and of President Nicolas Sarkozy. They requested more pluralism and "honesty" and accused the paper of one-sided political reporting. Mougeotte had previously said that {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} would do nothing to embarrass the government and the right.<ref>""Le Figaro" n'est pas "le bulletin d'un parti"", {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, 9 February 2012</ref><ref>"La question du jour. "Le Figaro" est-il un journal d'opinion ou un "bulletin" de l'UMP?", Le Nouvel Observateur, 10 February 2012</ref><ref>"Présidentielle : les journalistes du Figaro réclament un journal plus « honnête »", Rue89, 9 February 2012</ref> Mougeotte publicly replied: "Our editorial line pleases our readers as it is, it works. I don't see why I should change it. [...] We are a right-wing newspaper and we express it clearly, by the way. Our readers know it, our journalists too. There's nothing new to that!"<ref name=Mougeotte>""Le Figaro" : Mougeotte répond aux critiques de ses journalistes", Le Nouvel Observateur, 10 February 2012</ref>

Circulation historyEdit

In the period of 1995–96, the paper had a circulation of 391,533 copies, behind Le ParisienTemplate:-'s 451,159 copies.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>

Year 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Circulation 366,690 360,909 366,529 369,108 369,706 365,083 337,118 332,818 338,618 330,482 323,991 325,509
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Circulation 329,367 330,952 324,170 320,732 317,152 311,127 312,994 313,694 329,462 331,927

Le Figaro GroupEdit

Le Figaro formed the Groupe Figaro (a subsidiary of the Marcel Dassault Industrial Group). The former company, Socpresse, which was dismantled in 2005, officially became Dassault Media (Figaro Group) in 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref>

The daily Le Figaro and its supplementsEdit

The newspaper was accompanied by two daily supplements: Le Figaro Économie, since 1984, printed on salmon-colored paper, and Le Figaro et vous, since 2005, dedicated to culture and lifestyle.

Additionally:

Other supplements, sections, and titlesEdit

  • Le Figaro Patrimoine was a monthly supplement of Le Figaro.
  • Le Figaro Étudiant was a monthly supplement of Le Figaro.
  • F, l'art de vivre du Figaro (formerly Almaviva)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}.</ref> was a supplement of Le Figaro published six times a year (September, October, November, March, April, May) since September 2015.

  • Figaro plus was a thematic supplement (sports or others) published irregularly;
  • Le Figaro demain<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> was an irregularly-published supplement;

  • Paris Chic was a section of about thirty pages offering a selection of articles from the "Et vous" section, dedicated to lifestyle and the Figaroscope, aimed at wealthy Chinese visitors in Paris.
  • The Figaro Group relaunched the title Jours de France, specializing in celebrity news and European royal families. It first appeared as a website in 2011, then as a quarterly print magazine from August 7, 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}.</ref>

  • Every week, a volume of the "essentials" of the Encyclopædia Universalis was sold as a supplement on Tuesdays, with the first volume being free. This encyclopedia contained 6,000 articles, 17,000 notices, and 200,000 links.

Online editionEdit

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Template:Infobox website

The online newspaper's address has been lefigaro.fr since 1999.

In January 2010, lefigaro.fr introduced features reserved for subscribers.<ref>"Official announcement of the launch of the premium offer at the beginning of 2010".</ref> Access to archived articles was also made available for a fee. In September 2011, the newspaper launched an online wine magazine. In February 2014, FigaroVox, a platform for debates and ideas, was launched.<ref>Thierry Wojciak, "Figaro Vox: a platform for debates and ideas," CBS News, February 3, 2014.</ref><ref>Alexandre Debouté, "Le Figaro launches the debate platform FigaroVox," Le Figaro, February 3, 2014.</ref>

In 2008, Le Figaro became the leading news site on the Internet according to Internet audience data published by Nielsen Médiamétrie/NetRatings.<ref>Template:Cite journal.</ref> On November 17, 2011, the site was awarded the title of "Best Mobile Media" for the second time at the 2011 Mobile Internet Trophies.<ref>Template:Cite journal.</ref> In 2013, it was still ranked as the leading French online press site in France.<ref>Benjamin Ferran, "Le Figaro redesigns its website to better tell the news", in Le Figaro, "Economy" section, Wednesday, November 6, 2013, page 27.</ref> In November of the same year, it broke the record of 11 million unique visitors on a French news website.<ref>Enguérand Renault, "Audience record for the Figaro website", "Economy" section, Thursday, January 2, 2014, p. 24.</ref>

On April 13, 2015, Figaro Premium was launched, a paid offer (€9.90 per month initially, increasing to €15; free for newspaper subscribers). It provided access to all articles from Le Figaro and its related magazines in a more comfortable reading format with minimal advertising, available from 10 p.m. the evening before the print daily. At this stage, digital activities represented 25% of the group's revenue and 22% of advertising revenue. Various platforms were simultaneously created: Scan Politique, Scan Sport, Scan TV, Figaro Immobilier, Figaro Jardin, and recently, Scan Éco.<ref>Chloé Woitier, "Le Figaro Premium arrives Monday", Le Figaro, Saturday 11 / Sunday 12 April 2015, p. 24.</ref>

The number of digital subscribers grew rapidly. In 2017, Le Figaro had 80,000 digital subscribers, in addition to 70,000 subscribers to both print and digital editions.<ref name="BFMBusiness">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> In 2019, it was among the 50 most visited sites in France<ref>Top sites in France - Alexa Rank</ref> and had 130,000 digital subscribers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The milestone of 200,000 website subscribers was reached in November 2020.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

A study conducted in early 2020 by a cybersecurity company indicated that the personal data of the newspaper's website subscribers had been exposed on an unprotected server.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In July 2021, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty fined Le Figaro €50,000 for installing third-party cookies without users' consent, in violation of the GDPR.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref>

FigaroVoxEdit

FigaroVox is an online section of figaro.fr created in 2014 by Alexis Brézet, a former journalist at Valeurs actuelles (from 1987 to 2000),<ref name=Monde>Template:Cite journal</ref> "holding a very right-wing line",<ref name="FigaroVoxrue89"/> on the advice of Patrick Buisson,<ref>Template:Cite book.</ref> a figure associated with Nicolas Sarkozy's shift to the far-right in 2012.<ref name=Monde/> FigaroVox was an extension of the "debates and opinions" pages of the print daily on Internet;<ref name=":9">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> appearing on the homepage of Figaro's website, FigaroVox articles accentuated the political character of the daily.<ref name=Monde/> The journalists contributing to FigaroVox were positioned at the crossroads of the right, practicing Catholicism, and the "new reactionaries".<ref> RAISON DU CLEUZIOU Yann, "An Inverse Rally? The Neo-Republican Discourse of the Right Since the Manif pour tous," Mil neuf cent. Revue d'histoire intellectuelle, 2016/1 (n° 34), pp. 125-148. DOI: 10.3917/mnc.034.0125. URL: https://www-cairn-info.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/revue-mil-neuf-cent-2016-1-page-125.htm </ref> FigaroVox was led by Vincent Trémolet de Villers, who co-authored a book on La Manif pour tous (And France Awoke. An Investigation into the Revolution of Values).<ref name=Monde/> It was edited by Alexandre Devecchio, a former journalist for the site Atlantico.<ref name=Monde/> Its contributors included Maxime Tandonnet, a former advisor on immigration to Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gilles-William Goldnadel, an attorney for Patrick Buisson.<ref name=Monde/>

FigaroVox's preferred themes were "the decline of the republican school, poorly controlled immigration, and Islam as the primary threat to national identity".<ref name="FigaroVoxrue89"/>

Sociologist Philippe Corcuff considered FigaroVox an "ultraconservative" section.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Sociologist Jean-Louis Schlegel of the magazine Esprit described it as a platform for "the right of the right", akin to Causeur or Valeurs actuelles.<ref> SCHLEGEL Jean-Louis, "The Right in Search of Cultural Hegemony," Esprit, 2017/12 (December), pp. 25-30. DOI: 10.3917/espri.1712.0025. URL: https://www.cairn.info/revue-esprit-2017-12-page-25.htm </ref> Political scientist Eszter Petronella suggested that FigaroVox allowed Le Figaro to "balance" the more moderate positions of the print by giving voice to an "identitarian and militant journalism," thereby catering to the needs of all readers.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Nolwenn Le Blevennec of Rue89 described it as a "platform for the hard-right of Le Figaro".<ref name="FigaroVoxrue89">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> Information science specialist Aurélie Olivesi noted the proximity between the "polemical site" FigaroVox and the magazine Causeur, with some journalists having worked for both media.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> According to Causeur, the section opened its doors to authors from both the left and the right.<ref name=":9" /> According to Nolwenn Le Blevennec, however, FigaroVox was haunted by an "identitarian obsession," exhibited an ultra-conservative and sovereigntist editorial line, and remained a platform where "one could read the National Front in the text, or link Islam and Daesh". Left-wing figures, such as Gaël Brustier, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Thomas Guénolé,<ref name=":9" /> were invited "sometimes"<ref name="FigaroVoxrue89" /> or more regularly like Laurent Bouvet.<ref> Laurent Bouvet was so influential in our republican disputes! Le Figaro, Libération, l'Express, Le Point..., Claude Askolovitch, France Inter, December 20, 2021.</ref> Éric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut were very appreciated there.<ref name="FigaroVoxrue89" /> According to L'Express, the invited authors included liberals and left-wing sovereigntists, but in larger numbers were advocates of the "conservative reaction." These intellectuals and polemicists used the platform to criticize globalization.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since 2019, the section has been headed by Guillaume Perrault; Alexandre Devecchio, whom Le Monde associates with the far-right,<ref>In an article titled "How the far right infiltrated the media", Le Monde discusses the shift of conservative Alexandre Devecchio, "deputy editor of the debate pages of Figaro" (FigaroVox) into the camp of reactionaries, Template:Cite journal</ref> was its deputy editor. In 2020, the section had six regular columnists, Bertille Bayart, Nicolas Baverez, Renaud Girard, Mathieu Bock-Côté, Luc Ferry, Ivan Rioufol, along with guest contributors.<ref name=":9" />

Participation and SubsidiariesEdit

In February 2006, Le Figaro acquired the sports information and content site sport24.com, which had already been managing the sports section of figaro.fr since 2004; this was the first time that Figaro made such an acquisition.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> In May 2007, Le Figaro purchased the cultural site evene.fr, which quickly found synergies with Le Figaroscope,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> and then in June 2007, the ticketing service Ticketac.com was acquired by the group.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> In 2008, the group took over the company Météo Consult, which included La Chaîne Météo,<ref name="zdnet">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and in December 2008, it acquired La Banque Audiovisuelle, the publishing company of vodeo.tv, through its subsidiary The Skreenhouse Factory, dedicated to TV and video on the Internet. On May 18, 2009, it purchased Particulier et Finances Éditions, which included Le Particulier, Le Particulier pratique, Le Particulier Immobilier, and La Lettre des Placements, as well as about thirty practical guides and the site leparticulier.fr.<ref name="zdnet"/> In September 2010, it took over Adenclassifieds, following a friendly takeover bid; the subsidiary became Figaro Classifieds,<ref>"Le Figaro launches a takeover bid for the remainder of Adenclassifieds shares", http://www.lefigaro.fr, September 30, 2010.</ref> which included Cadremploi, Keljob.com, kelformation, kelstage, kelsalaire.net, CVmail, Explorimmo, CadresOnline, OpenMedia, Seminus, Microcode, achat-terrain.com.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> The sites achat-terrain.com and constructeurs-maisons.com, created in 2005, were acquired in September 2012.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> Campus-Channel, a video platform for students launched in 2011, was acquired by Figaro Classifieds in June 2014.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}.</ref> In 2015,<ref>Template:Cite journal.</ref> CCM Benchmark Group was fully acquired, including leading websites like L'Internaute, Journal du Net, Le Journal des femmes, Droit-finances.net. The acquisition of these leading sites allowed Figaro to move from the fifteenth place in non-mobile web traffic to fourth place, with 24 million unique visitors, behind Google (41 million), Microsoft (35 million), and Facebook (26 million).<ref>Template:Cite news.</ref>

Group partnershipsEdit

Le Figaro sponsored the sailing race, the Solitaire du Figaro, since its creation in 1970.

The newspaper and the Center for Political Research at Sciences Po (CEVIPOF) presented their "Political Studies." Le Figaro replaced Le Monde as a partner of the program Le Grand Jury in September 2006.

In partnership with Dargaud Benelux, the newspaper launched in 2010 a 20-volume collection of XIII in a "prestige" edition<ref>Template:In lang Thibaut Dary, "XIII: The VII Reasons for a Triumph," Le Figaro, June 29, 2010.</ref> and a pre-publication of the latest volumes of the series throughout the summer of the same year in Le Figaro Magazine. Additionally, the daily also offered a selection of comic books, from Largo Winch to Blake and Mortimer to Gaston, Tintin, Lucky Luke, and Spirou and Fantasio.

See alsoEdit

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ReferencesEdit

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Further readingEdit

  • Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. The World's Great Dailies: Profiles of Fifty Newspapers (1980) pp 124–29

External linksEdit

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Template:Newspapers in France

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