Indigo Publications is a French company that publishes 4 news websites, mostly dedicated to specialized business sectors.

History

Indigo Publications was established in Paris in 1981. Founder Maurice Botbol assembled a small team of investigative journalists dedicated to economic news. Botbol serves as director of Indigo Publications and was President of the ''Syndicat presse indépendante d' information en ligne'' (Union of the Independent Press Information Online). Indigo is a French media group serving a global audience, but hangs its credibility on remaining editorially independent: as Botbol explains, "We are not culturally partisan, either toward France's interests nor those of the third world.... We are very careful not to have any 'national' positioning." ''The Indian Ocean Newsletter'' was the first Indigo publication, focused on the business interests of

East East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...

and

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

and the Indian Ocean states. Over the years, the company launched other regional titles including the economic newsletter for

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

Africa, ''La Lettre du Continent'' (and its English equivalent, ''West Africa Newsletter''); the

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

n newspaper ''Maghreb Confidential''; and more specialized business publications like ''Africa Mining Intelligence'' and ''Intelligence Online''. In 2007, Indigo acquired ''La Lettre A'', a newsletter established in 1978 that specializes in news and analysis of politics and business in France. In April 2011, Indigo launched an online spinoff of ''La Lettre A'' called ''Entourages''. The company functions as a SAS (''sociétés par actions simplifiées''), with headquarters in Paris previously in the rue Montmartre. Indigo Publications' new offices are located in Paris's Republique neighborhood.

Value-added tax audit controversy

On December 16, 2013, Indigo Publications and another French digital publisher,

Mediapart ''Mediapart'' () is an independent nonprofit French Investigative journalism, investigative online newspaper created in 2008 by Edwy Plenel, former editor-in-chief of . It is published in French language, French, English language, English, and ...

, were audited by the French Inland Revenue Service over

Value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

(VAT). The VAT rate for online news was 19.6% (20% starting in 2014), while that of traditional media was 2.1%, a disparity that had been in place since 2009. The companies contested the higher rate, and on January 31, 2015, in a ruling opposed by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

, but consistent with the jurisprudence of the

Court of Justice of the European Union The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ( or "''CJUE''"; Latin: Curia) is the Judiciary, judicial branch of the European Union (EU). Seated in the Kirchberg, Luxembourg, Kirchberg quarter of Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, this EU ins ...

, the French Budget Ministry issued taxing instructions, and a law was unanimously adopted by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

on February 4, and by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

on February 17, 2014, granting equality of tax treatment between traditional print and digital press.

Leadership and Editorial Direction

Under the ownership of Quentin Botbol, Indigo Publications maintains its focus on investigative journalism and editorial independence. However
Intelligence Online has faced scrutiny
with some observers questioning its neutrality in covering intelligence affairs and private-sector influence in international security. In some cases, its reporting has led to allegations of defamation, raising concerns about its journalistic practices.

Publications

Indigo publishes four different publications in both French and English. Since 1995, Indigo Publications has implemented a digital development strategy, and went with all digital publication of Intelligence Online and all the company's Africa publications, on the Africa Intelligence website in April 2013. As of January 2016, all publications are now 100% digital.

''Intelligence Online''

''Intelligence Online'', formerly ''Intelligence Newsletter'', reports on and analyses secret

diplomacy Diplomacy is the communication by representatives of State (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, non-governmental institutions intended to influence events in the international syste ...

, parallel operations and conflicts around the world, focusing on the role of government intelligence agencies, corporate intelligence firms and lobby groups. It also investigates

money-laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds into ...

, political instability,

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

, espionage and organized crime in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Pierre Gastineau is the Editor-in-Chief.

''Africa Intelligence''

In 2020, "The Intian Ocean Newsletter", "Africa Mining Intelligence", "West Africa Newsletter", and "Maghreb Confidential" were regrouped into the publication ''Africa Intelligence''. The publication's editor-in-chief is Paul Deutschmann.

''La Lettre''

''La Lettre'' is dedicated to the political, economic and media news in France. Octave Bonnaud is the Editor-in-Chief of ''La Lettre''.

''Glitz''

In September 2022, Indigo Publications launched ''Glitz'', a publication dedicated to the international luxury sector. ''Glitzs editor-in-chief is Phillippe Vasset.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Official website, URL=http://www.indigo-net.com/index.aspx?lng=EN Publishing companies of France Newsletter publishing companies French companies established in 1981