The French daily Le Monde is one of a kind. It's arguably the only daily newspaper published in the afternoon, and the paper is dated on the day following its publication. Another unusual characteristic is that while most newspapers contract out their printing, Le Monde clings to its worn-out presses and its troublesome pressmen's union. Until a few years ago, it carried no photographs, let alone the smallest touch of colour, a remnant of the long-gone era when serious newspapers felt obliged to look as boring as possible to keep their intellectual credentials.
Then, Le Monde discovered modernity and went though many successful facelifts. Nowadays, its lively yet distinguished layout, far from altering its character as a quality newspaper, highlights the best features of the paper: thoughtful analyses, an enlightened international perspective based on a wide network of foreign correspondents, interesting stories on politics and social life, and a strong commitment to independence from the powers that be.
Predictably though, Le Monde is broke. It needs a massive influx of capital. The employees of the newspaper, who have always been its majority shareholders, will have to cede their power to the new masters in exchange for a guarantee that they will respect the paper's editorial independence.
Two groups of financiers are vying for the chance to pour up to a hundred million euros into what most business people would consider a bottomless pit from which no profits can be expected (except maybe through the paper's website, which is growing). Yet, for the very rich, Le Monde is an attractive prize. Even though its circulation (about 350,000) is comparable to that of Quebec's La Presse for a population almost 10 times larger, it is by far the most influential medium in all of France - and its prestige extends beyond the borders of the country.
On Monday, the associations representing the employees, including the powerful Société des Rédacteurs (the journalists' union), choose one of the two consortiums offering to refinance the news group.
Le Monde plays such a key role in France's social life that the process that led to the decision was fraught from the beginning with behind-the-scenes intrigue and political interference, the most spectacular coming directly from President Nicolas Sarkozy.
One of the two groups vying for the control of the newspaper is formed by three financiers: Pierre Bergé, the billionaire benefactor who was Yves Saint Laurent's protector, Mathieu Pigasse, head of the Lazard Bank, and Xavier Niel, the founder of Free, a telecom provider. Mr. Niel is politically unpredictable, but Mr. Bergé and Mr. Pigasse are known sympathizers of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the current head of the International Monetary Fund who will likely be the socialist contender in the 2012 French presidential election.
On June 7, Mr. Sarkozy summoned Eric Fottorino, the director of Le Monde, to the Élysée Palace and told him bluntly that he did not want the newspaper to be turned into a "war machine" for his socialist adversary.
The President threatened to refuse to finance the modernization of the newspaper's printing operation - something that, far from being a favour, had been a formal commitment by the state two years ago to all newspapers in financial difficulty - if Le Monde didn't go for the second group, formed by Claude Perdriel, the owner of the weekly magazine Le Nouvel Observateur, Prisa, the Spanish consortium that publishes El Pais, and Orange, the telecom provider that is an offshoot of France Telecom, a company in which the state holds a 26-per-cent stake.
Mr. Perdriel is 83 and relies heavily on his magazine's manager, Denis Olivennes, who, despite being nominally socialist, happens to be on quite good terms with Mr. Sarkozy. (Two years ago, the President tried to bring Mr. Olivennes into his government). Many observers suspect that the Élysée had pushed France Telecom to support the offer of Mr. Perdriel.
This typically French story is bound to have interesting developments…
Lysiane Gagnon