Prospect Magazine writes: Le Monde is France’s “journal de reference,” where you go not for news but for an opinion on the news: profound reflections in weighty prose. But, like the printed press everywhere, it’s losing readers fast, from 406,000 nine years ago to 288,000 last year. Earlier this year offers were invited to bail it out, and a battle for the privilege of pouring yet more millions into the ailing newspaper, which is 26 per cent state-owned, has ensued.
Now, with the backing of Le Monde’s staff, new investors are lined up. They include the former partner of couturier Yves Saint Laurent; an internet entrepreneur with a reputation for sleaze; and a wealthy investment banker. The story of how they got there—one involving antiquated labour practices, Paris’s power-hungry nouveau riche and intrigue at the highest levels of political power—is an important, if depressing, illustration of the state of France today.
Read the entire article at Prospect Magazine >>