Le Monde

File:Le Monde logo.png
	Le Monde front page
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Berliner
Owner(s)	Groupe Le Monde
Editor	Eric Fottorino
Founded	1944
Political alignment	Centrist, sometimes said to be Centre Left
Language	French
Headquarters	Bd Auguste-Blanqui 80, ; F-75707 Paris Cedex 13
Website	www.lemonde.fr

Le Monde (English: The World) is a French daily evening newspaper with a circulation in 2004 of 371,803. It is considered the French newspaper of record, and is generally well respected, often the only French newspaper easily obtainable in non-Francophone countries.

The newspaper should not be confused with the monthly publication Le Monde diplomatique, of which Le Monde has 51% ownership, but which is editorially independent.

Le Monde was founded by Hubert Beuve-Méry at the request of General Charles de Gaulle after the German army was driven from Paris during World War II, and took over the format of Le Temps, whose reputation had suffered during the Occupation. Beuve-Méry reportedly demanded total editorial independence as the condition for his taking on the project. Its first edition appeared on December 19, 1944. Le Monde has been available on the Internet since December 19, 1995. It is the principal publication of Groupe Le Monde.

Its current board chairman and director of publication is Eric Fottorino and the current chief editor (rédacteur en chef) is Gérard Courtois. Plantu is one of several political cartoonists who contribute to the paper, and his work is often featured on the front page above the fold.

Presentation

Le Monde was in the past often described as centre-left, but its editorial line may be more appropriately described nowadays as simply moderate. In 1981 it backed the election of Socialist François Mitterrand on the grounds that alternation of the political party in government would be beneficial to the country.

The paper's journalistic side has a collegial form of organization, in which most journalists are not only tenured, but financial stakeholders in the enterprise as well, and participate in the elections of upper management and senior executives. In contrast to other world newspapers such as The New York Times, Le Monde used to be more geared to analysis and opinion, rather than simply being a newspaper of record. Hence, it was considered less important for the paper to cover "all the news that's fit to print" (the motto of The New York Times) than to offer thoughtful interpretation of current events. Writers of lead reporting articles did not hesitate to provide commentary or venture predictions. In recent years, however, greater separation has been established between facts and opinion.

Controversies and politics

In their 2003 book entitled La face cachée du Monde ("The hidden face of Le Monde"), authors Pierre Péan and Philippe Cohen alleged that Colombani and the then editor Edwy Plenel had, amongst other things, shown partisan bias and engaged in financial dealings that compromised the paper's independence. It also accused the paper of dangerously damaging the authority of the French state by having revealed various political scandals (notably corruption scandals surrounding Jacques Chirac, and the sinking of a Greenpeace boat, the Rainbow Warrior, by French intelligence under President François Mitterrand). In one chapter, the authors of the book accused Colombani and Plenel of "xenophilia" and of "not liking France". This book remains controversial, but attracted much attention and media coverage in France and around the world at the time of its publication. Following a lawsuit, the authors and the publisher agreed in 2004 not to proceed to any reprinting.

After the 9/11 attacks, Le Monde published on its front page a famous quote written by Jean-Marie Colombani, entitled "We all are Americans".

During the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election, The Economist published an article in which John F. Kerry's popularity among Europeans (allegedly based on his cosmopolitanism and leftism) was illustrated by a cartoon showing him holding a copy of Le Monde.

Recent circulation history:

Year	2001	2002	2003	2004	2004-2005
Circulation	405 983	407 085	389 249	371 803	363 999

Publication schedule

Le Monde is published around midday, and the date on the masthead is the following day's. That is, the issue which is released at midday on 15 March shows 16 March in the masthead. It is available on newsstands in Paris and some other parts of France on the day of release, and received by mail subscribers on the masthead date.

Famous investigations

Among Le Monde famous investigations are the one concerning the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. In 2005, on the 20th anniversary of this failed secret operation, the newspaper directly implicated François Mitterrand, who was president at the time, in the operation.

Past Directors

Hubert Beuve-Méry (1944-1969)
Jacques Fauvet (1969-1981)
Claude Julien (1981-1982)
André Laurens (1982-1985)
André Fontaine (1985-1991)
Jacques Lesourne (1991-1994)
Jean-Marie Colombani (1994-2007)
Eric Fottorino (2007-present)

External links