SINCE its first edition came out on December 19, 1944, printed on a single sheet, Le Monde has been universally accepted as France's paper of record.
On Monday, the evening newspaper turned a new page in its history when a trio of tycoons was given the go-ahead for a takeover to save it from bankruptcy.
Its supervisory board voted to select a consortium — Pierre Berge, an arts patron and partner of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent, banker Matthieu Pigasse, and Internet tycoon Xavier Niel, described by some newspapers as a “porn billionaire” — to begin negotiations to take financial control. In return, Le Monde is promised an injection of 100 million euros to repay debts and invest in a future which will be dominated by the growth of news and comment over the Internet.
The consortium's success will dismay President Nicolas Sarkozy, who this month caused a furore by summoning Le Monde's director, Eric Fottorino, to the Élysée Palace. Sarkozy reportedly told him he opposed Berge, Niel and Pigasse and supported a rival bid, though many supposed that he also feared the three men's links to the Socialist opposition might colour the paper's outlook and hence damage his possible re-election campaign in 2012. However, Le Monde journalists, angry at what they saw as intervention, voted on Friday in favour of the offer, saying the trio made “the most coherent proposition”. The rival bid, from a group including the owners of Spain's El Pais and France Telecom, apparently seeing the strength of the opposition, pulled out at the last minute.
The impending takeover marks the end of an era, Thierry Dussard, a media management professor at Sciences Po, the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, told Associated Press. “Reality and capitalism have now caught up with the French press,” he said, describing Le Monde as “the last dinosaur” where journalists ran their paper regardless of capital ownership or profits. “It's the swansong for the journalists' independence,” he warned.
Editorial independence is the rock on which Le Monde was built. Set up at the request of General de Gaulle at the liberation of Paris, its goal was an independent voice for France. Le Temps, on whose presses it printed, had been tainted by collaboration, as had nearly all France's dailies.
— The Guardian, London
