''Le Petit Journal'' was a conservative daily Parisian

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

founded by Moïse Polydore Millaud; published from 1863 to 1944. Together with ''

Le Petit Parisien ''Le Petit Parisien'' was a prominent French newspaper during the French Third Republic. It was published between 1876 and 1944, and its circulation was over two million after the First World War. Publishing Despite its name, the paper was circu ...

'', '' Le Matin'', and '' Le Journal'', it was one of the four major French dailies. In 1890, during the Boulangiste crisis, its circulation first reached one million copies. Five years later, it had a circulation of two million copies, making it the world's largest newspaper.Ivan Chupin, Nicolas Hubé and Nicolas Kaciaf, ''Histoire politique et économique des médias en France'', La Découverte, 2009

History

Early years

The first issue of the Journal appeared on 1 February 1863 with a printing of 83,000 copies. Its founder, Millaud, was originally from

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

and had begun as a publisher of financial and legal newsletters. For a few years, he was the owner of '' La Presse'', an early penny paper. The first printing ran to 83,000 copies; a large printing compared to the other serious newspapers. For example, ''

Le Siècle ''Le Siècle'' ("''The Age''") is a daily newspaper that was published from 1836 to 1932 in France. History In 1836, ''Le Siècle'' was founded as a paper that supported constitutional monarchism. However, when the July Monarchy came to an end ...

'' typically had a press run of 50,000 copies. Within two years the Journal was printing 259,000 copies, making it the largest daily in Paris. By 1870, it had reached 340,000 copies; twice the figure for the other major dailies put together. Much of this progress was made possible by the

rotary press A rotary printing press is a printing press in which the images to be printed are curved around a cylinder. Printing can be done on various substrates, including paper, cardboard, and plastic. Substrates can be sheet feed or unwound on a continuo ...

es that had been designed by

Hippolyte Auguste Marinoni Hippolyte Auguste Marinoni (1823, Paris – 7 January 1904, Paris) was a builder of rotary printing presses; most of which used the rotogravure process. He was also a media patron and owned several periodicals; notably ''Le Petit Journal (newspape ...

in 1866 and installed at the Journal in 1872. Despite its apparent successes, the Millaud family found themselves in financial difficulties and, in 1873, sold their interests in the company to a group headed by

Émile de Girardin Émile de Girardin (22 June 180227 April 1881) was a French journalist, publisher and politician. He was the most successful and flamboyant French journalist of the era, presenting himself as a promoter of mass education through mass journalism. ...

. In 1882, Marinoni took control of the Journal, succeeding Girardin. In 1884, he introduced the ''Supplément illustré'', a weekly Sunday supplement that was the first to feature colour illustrations. This became so popular that, in 1889, Marinoni developed a colour rotary press that could print 20,000 sheets per hour. By 1895, one million copies of the supplement were being produced every week and the Journal had a press run of two million copies, 80% of which went to the provinces, making it France's predominant newspaper. Dreyfus-in-Prison-1895

Later years and decline

By 1900, the paper's growth was slowing considerably. Many of its readers had gone over to ''

'' because that paper had avoided taking sides in the

Dreyfus Affair The Dreyfus affair (french: affaire Dreyfus, ) was a political scandal that divided the French Third Republic from 1894 until its resolution in 1906. "L'Affaire", as it is known in French, has come to symbolise modern injustice in the Francop ...

, whereas , the Journal's editor, was staunchly Anti-Dreyfus. Soon after, ''Le Petit Parisien'' became France's best-selling newspaper. By 1914, the Journal's printing run had decreased to 850,000. By 1919, it had fallen to 400,000. In 1936, the Journal became the official organ of the French Social Party, with the motto, " Travail, Famille, Patrie", which was borrowed from the "

Croix-de-Feu , logo = Croix de Feu.svg , logo_size = 200px , leader1_title = President , leader1_name = François de La Rocque , foundation = 11 November 1927 , dissolution = 10 January 1936 , successor = F ...

" league and later became the motto of the

Vichy Vichy (, ; ; oc, Vichèi, link=no, ) is a city in the Allier department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France, in the historic province of Bourbonnais. It is a spa and resort town and in World War II was the capital of ...

régime. Despite receiving support from many notable figures, including the press magnate

Raymond Patenôtre Raymond Patenôtre (July 31, 1900 – June 19, 1951) was the American-born son of the French ambassador to the United States Jules Patenotre des Noyers. He was a newspaper publisher and politician. Patenotre inherited his fortune from his mother: a ...

, its decline continued and, by 1937, the typical press run was only 150,000. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, its headquarters was moved to

Clermont-Ferrand Clermont-Ferrand (, ; ; oc, label= Auvergnat, Clarmont-Ferrand or Clharmou ; la, Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, with a population of 146,734 (2018). Its metropolitan area (''aire d'attrac ...

in 1940. It received a monthly grant from the government, and

François de La Rocque François de La Rocque (; 6 October 1885 – 28 April 1946) was the leader of the French right-wing league the Croix de Feu from 1930 to 1936 before he formed the more moderate nationalist French Social Party (1936–1940), which has been ...

became chairman of its board of directors, but the paper could not be saved, and the final issue was published in August 1944.

Description and contents

Part of the Journal's attraction was its low price. Because in the beginning it officially (if not actually) did not cover politics, it avoided paying the 10 centimes newspaper tax, and therefore could be sold for only 5 centimes, as opposed to 15 centimes for the typical daily. It came in a convenient format of 43×30 cm (17×12 ins.), did not require a subscription and, in addition to the news, offered feature stories, serials (including the popular detective stories of

Émile Gaboriau Émile Gaboriau (9 November 183228 September 1873) was a French writer, novelist, journalist, and a pioneer of detective fiction. Early life Gaboriau was born in the small town of Saujon, Charente-Maritime. He was the son of Charles Gabriel Ga ...

), horoscopes and opinion pieces. Also, it was distributed in the evening, so it could be hawked to workers leaving their shops and factories. One of the Journal's major innovations, that made a substantial contribution to its popularity, was the publishing of detailed

minutes Minutes, also known as minutes of meeting (abbreviation MoM), protocols or, informally, notes, are the instant written record of a meeting or hearing. They typically describe the events of the meeting and may include a list of attendees, a stat ...

from sensational trials, beginning with the Troppmann Affair in 1869. The exploitation of this affair enabled the Journal to almost double its readership. It was also one of the earliest instances of a publication's

journalistic ethics Journalistic ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and good practice applicable to journalists. This subset of media ethics is known as journalism's professional "code of ethics" and the "canons of journalism". The basic codes and ...

being called to serious account.François Caron, ''La France des patriotes'', Paris,

Fayard Fayard (complete name: ''Librairie Arthème Fayard'') is a French Paris-based publishing house established in 1857. Fayard is controlled by Hachette Livre. In 1999, Éditions Pauvert became part of Fayard. Claude Durand was director of Fayar ...

, coll. "Histoire de France" (Jean Favier, ed.), 1985

National Library of France – Gallica

All copies of ''Le Petit Journal'' are stored at the National Library France – Gallica. They can be freely accessed online a
Gallica, Online Archive, ''Le Petit Journal'' Index

References

{{Reflist

External links

{{Commons category, Le Petit Journal * Every issue of ''Le Petit Journal'
from 1863 to 1940
viewable online in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF. {{in lang, fr * Issues of ''Le Petit Journal illustré'
from 1884 to 1920
viewable online in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF. {{in lang, fr
Histoire de ''La Petit Journal''
@ Carrefour. {{Authority control {{DEFAULTSORT:Petit Journal 1863 establishments in France 1944 disestablishments in France Defunct newspapers published in France French penny papers Newspapers published in Paris Publications established in 1863 Publications disestablished in 1944 Newspapers of the Vichy regime Daily newspapers published in France