Le Figaro

() is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It was named after Figaro, a character in several plays by polymath Beaumarchais (1732–1799): '' Le Barbier de Séville'', '' La Mère coupable'', and the eponymous '' Le Mariage de Figaro''. One of his lines became the paper's motto: "Without the freedom to criticise, there is no flattering praise".

The oldest national newspaper in France, is considered a French newspaper of record, along with and ''Libération''. Since 2004, the newspaper has been owned by Dassault Group. Its editorial director has been Alexis Brézet since 2012. ''Le Figaro'' is the second-largest national newspaper in France, after ''Le Monde''. It has a centre-right editorial stance and is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Other Groupe Figaro publications include '' Le Figaro Magazine'', ''TV Magazine'' and ''Evene''. The paper is published in Berliner format.

History

was founded as a satirical weekly in 1826, taking its name and motto from '' Le Mariage de Figaro'', the 1778 play by Pierre Beaumarchais that poked fun at privilege. Its motto, from Figaro's monologue in the play's final act, is "''Sans la liberté de blâmer, il n'est point d'éloge flatteur''" ("Without the freedom to criticise, there is no flattering praise"). In 1833, editor Nestor Roqueplan fought a duel with a Colonel Gallois, who was offended by an article in , and was wounded but recovered. Albert Wolff, Émile Zola, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, Théophile Gautier, and Jules Arsène Arnaud Claretie were among the paper's early contributors. It was published somewhat irregularly until 1854, when it was taken over by Hippolyte de Villemessant.

In 1866, became a daily newspaper. Its first daily edition, that of 16 November 1866, sold 56,000 copies, having highest circulation of any newspaper in France. Its editorial line was royalist. Pauline Savari was among the contributors to the paper at this time.

On 20 February 1909 published a manifesto signed by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti which initiated the establishment of Futurism in art.

On 16 March 1914, Gaston Calmette, the editor of , was assassinated by Henriette Caillaux, the wife of Finance Minister Joseph Caillaux, after he published a letter that cast serious doubt on her husband's integrity. In 1922, was purchased by perfume millionaire François Coty. Abel Faivre did cartoons for the paper. Coty enraged many in March 1929 when he renamed the paper simply ''Figaro'', which it remained until 1933.

By the start of World War II, had become France's leading newspaper. After the war, it became the voice of the upper middle class, and continues to maintain a conservative position.

In 1975, was bought by Robert Hersant's Socpresse. In 1999, The Carlyle Group obtained a 40% stake in the paper, which it later sold in March 2002. Since March 2004, has been controlled by Serge Dassault, a conservative businessman and politician best known for running the aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, which he inherited from his father, its founder, Marcel Dassault (1892–1986). Dassault owns 80% of the paper, by way of its media subsidiary Groupe Figaro.

Franz-Olivier Giesbert was editorial director of ''Le Figaro'' from 1998 to 2000.

In 2006, was banned in Egypt and Tunisia for publishing articles allegedly insulting Islam.

switched to Berliner format in 2009. The paper has published ''The New York Times International Weekly'' on Friday since 2009, an 8-page supplement featuring a selection of articles from ''The New York Times'' translated into French. In 2010, Lefigaro.fr created a section called Le Figaro in English, which provides the global English-speaking community with daily original or translated content from website. The section ended in 2012.

In the 2010s, saw future presidential candidate Éric Zemmour's columns garner great interest among readers that would later serve to launch his political career.

Logo

File:Le Figaro logo 1826 - Gallica.jpg, Logo during the 1820s
File:Le Figaro Logo 1854.png, Logo from an 1854 issue
File:Logo du Figaro 1920.png, Logo since the 1920s
File:Le Figaro Logo 1952.png, Logo of Le Figaro from a 1952 issue

Editorial stance and controversies

has traditionally held a conservative editorial stance, becoming the voice of the French upper and middle classes. More recently, the newspaper's political stance has become more centrist.

The newspaper's ownership by Serge Dassault was a source of controversy in terms of conflict-of-interest, as Dassault also owned a major military supplier and served in political positions from the Union for a Popular Movement party. His son Olivier Dassault served as a member of the French National Assembly. Dassault has remarked in an interview in 2004 on the public radio station France Inter that "newspapers must promulgate healthy ideas" and that "left-wing ideas are not healthy ideas."

In February 2012, a general assembly of the newspaper's journalists adopted a motion accusing the paper's managing editor, Étienne Mougeotte, of having made into the "bulletin" of the governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, of the government and of President Nicolas Sarkozy. They requested more pluralism and "honesty" and accused the paper of one-sided political reporting. Mougeotte had previously said that would do nothing to embarrass the government and the right. Mougeotte publicly replied: "Our editorial line pleases our readers as it is, it works. I don't see why I should change it. ..We are a right-wing newspaper and we express it clearly, by the way. Our readers know it, our journalists too. There's nothing new to that!"""Le Figaro" : Mougeotte répond aux critiques de ses journalistes"
''Le Nouvel Observateur'', 10 February 2012

Circulation history

In the period of 1995–96, the paper had a circulation of 391,533 copies, behind '' Le Parisien''s 451,159 copies.

Le Figaro Group

''Le Figaro'' formed the Groupe Figaro (a subsidiary of the Marcel Dassault Industrial Group). The former company, Socpresse, which was dismantled in 2005, officially became Dassault Media (Figaro Group) in 2011.

The daily ''Le Figaro'' and its supplements

The newspaper was accompanied by two daily supplements: '' Le Figaro Économie'', since 1984, printed on salmon-colored paper, and ''Le Figaro et vous'', since 2005, dedicated to culture and lifestyle.

Additionally:
* The Monday edition was accompanied by a tabloid-format supplement, '' Le Figaro Réussir'', as well as four special "Health" pages since February 2010.
* The Tuesday edition was accompanied by an 8-page supplement, ''New York Times''.
* The Wednesday edition, in addition to the usual four sections, included the '' Le Figaro Étudiant'' section and was accompanied in Île-de-France by a supplement on entertainment and leisure, '' Le Figaroscope''.
* The Thursday edition was accompanied by an 8-page supplement, '' Le Figaro Littéraire''.
* The Friday and Saturday editions optionally included more voluminous magazine-type supplements: '' Le Figaro Magazine'', '' Madame Figaro'', and ''TV Magazine''.

Other supplements, sections, and titles

* '' Le Figaro Patrimoine'' was a monthly supplement of ''Le Figaro''.
* '' Le Figaro Étudiant'' was a monthly supplement of ''Le Figaro''.
* ''F, l'art de vivre du Figaro'' (formerly ''Almaviva'') was a supplement of ''Le Figaro'' published six times a year (September, October, November, March, April, May) since September 2015.
* ''Figaro plus'' was a thematic supplement (sports or others) published irregularly;
* ''Le Figaro demain'' was an irregularly-published supplement;
* ''Paris Chic'' was a section of about thirty pages offering a selection of articles from the "Et vous" section, dedicated to lifestyle and the Figaroscope, aimed at wealthy Chinese visitors in Paris.
* The Figaro Group relaunched the title '' Jours de France'', specializing in celebrity news and European royal families. It first appeared as a website in 2011, then as a quarterly print magazine from August 7, 2013.
* Every week, a volume of the "essentials" of the Encyclopædia Universalis was sold as a supplement on Tuesdays, with the first volume being free. This encyclopedia contained 6,000 articles, 17,000 ''notices,'' and 200,000 links.

Online edition

The online newspaper's address has been ''lefigaro.fr'' since 1999.

In January 2010, ''lefigaro.fr'' introduced features reserved for subscribers. Access to archived articles was also made available for a fee. In September 2011, the newspaper launched an online wine magazine. In February 2014, FigaroVox, a platform for debates and ideas, was launched.

In 2008, ''Le Figaro'' became the leading news site on the Internet according to Internet audience data published by Nielsen Médiamétrie/ NetRatings. On November 17, 2011, the site was awarded the title of "Best Mobile Media" for the second time at the 2011 Mobile Internet Trophies. In 2013, it was still ranked as the leading French online press site in France. In November of the same year, it broke the record of 11 million unique visitors on a French news website.

On April 13, 2015, Figaro Premium was launched, a paid offer (€9.90 per month initially, increasing to €15; free for newspaper subscribers). It provided access to all articles from ''Le Figaro'' and its related magazines in a more comfortable reading format with minimal advertising, available from 10 p.m. the evening before the print daily. At this stage, digital activities represented 25% of the group's revenue and 22% of advertising revenue. Various platforms were simultaneously created: Scan Politique, Scan Sport, Scan TV, Figaro Immobilier, Figaro Jardin, and recently, Scan Éco.

The number of digital subscribers grew rapidly. In 2017, ''Le Figaro'' had 80,000 digital subscribers, in addition to 70,000 subscribers to both print and digital editions.. In 2019, it was among the 50 most visited sites in France and had 130,000 digital subscribers. The milestone of 200,000 website subscribers was reached in November 2020.

A study conducted in early 2020 by a cybersecurity company indicated that the personal data of the newspaper's website subscribers had been exposed on an unprotected server. In July 2021, the National Commission on Informatics and Liberty fined ''Le Figaro'' €50,000 for installing third-party cookies without users' consent, in violation of the GDPR.

FigaroVox

FigaroVox is an online section of ''figaro.fr'' created in 2014 by Alexis Brézet, a former journalist at '' Valeurs actuelles'' (from 1987 to 2000), "holding a very right-wing line", on the advice of Patrick Buisson, a figure associated with Nicolas Sarkozy's shift to the far-right in 2012. FigaroVox was an extension of the "debates and opinions" pages of the print daily on Internet;. appearing on the homepage of Figaro's website, FigaroVox articles accentuated the political character of the daily. The journalists contributing to FigaroVox were positioned at the crossroads of the right, practicing Catholicism, and the " new reactionaries". FigaroVox was led by Vincent Trémolet de Villers, who co-authored a book on La Manif pour tous (''And France Awoke. An Investigation into the Revolution of Values''). It was edited by Alexandre Devecchio, a former journalist for the site Atlantico. Its contributors included Maxime Tandonnet, a former advisor on immigration to Nicolas Sarkozy, and Gilles-William Goldnadel, an attorney for Patrick Buisson.

FigaroVox's preferred themes were "the decline of the republican school, poorly controlled immigration, and Islam as the primary threat to national identity".

Sociologist Philippe Corcuff considered FigaroVox an "ultraconservative" section. Sociologist Jean-Louis Schlegel of the magazine ''Esprit'' described it as a platform for "the right of the right", akin to ''Causeur'' or ''Valeurs actuelles''. Political scientist Eszter Petronella suggested that FigaroVox allowed ''Le Figaro'' to "balance" the more moderate positions of the print by giving voice to an "identitarian and militant journalism," thereby catering to the needs of all readers. Nolwenn Le Blevennec of Rue89 described it as a "platform for the hard-right of ''Le Figaro''".. Information science specialist Aurélie Olivesi noted the proximity between the "polemical site" FigaroVox and the magazine '' Causeur'', with some journalists having worked for both media. According to ''Causeur'', the section opened its doors to authors from both the left and the right. According to Nolwenn Le Blevennec, however, FigaroVox was haunted by an "identitarian obsession," exhibited an ultra-conservative and sovereigntist editorial line, and remained a platform where "one could read the National Front in the text, or link Islam and Daesh". Left-wing figures, such as Gaël Brustier, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, and Thomas Guénolé, were invited "sometimes" or more regularly like Laurent Bouvet. Éric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut were very appreciated there. According to ''L'Express'', the invited authors included liberals and left-wing sovereigntists, but in larger numbers were advocates of the "conservative reaction." These intellectuals and polemicists used the platform to criticize globalization.

Since 2019, the section has been headed by Guillaume Perrault; Alexandre Devecchio, whom ''Le Monde'' associates with the far-right, was its deputy editor. In 2020, the section had six regular columnists, Bertille Bayart, Nicolas Baverez, Renaud Girard, Mathieu Bock-Côté, Luc Ferry, Ivan Rioufol, along with guest contributors.

Participation and Subsidiaries

In February 2006, Le Figaro acquired the sports information and content site sport24.com, which had already been managing the sports section of figaro.fr since 2004; this was the first time that Figaro made such an acquisition. In May 2007, ''Le Figaro'' purchased the cultural site evene.fr, which quickly found synergies with ''Le Figaroscope'', and then in June 2007, the ticketing service Ticketac.com was acquired by the group. In 2008, the group took over the company Météo Consult, which included La Chaîne Météo, and in December 2008, it acquired La Banque Audiovisuelle, the publishing company of vodeo.tv, through its subsidiary The Skreenhouse Factory, dedicated to TV and video on the Internet. On May 18, 2009, it purchased Particulier et Finances Éditions, which included ''Le Particulier'', ''Le Particulier pratique'', ''Le Particulier Immobilier'', and ''La Lettre des Placements'', as well as about thirty practical guides and the site leparticulier.fr. In September 2010, it took over Adenclassifieds, following a friendly takeover bid; the subsidiary became Figaro Classifieds, which included Cadremploi, Keljob.com, kelformation, kelstage, kelsalaire.net, CVmail, Explorimmo, CadresOnline, OpenMedia, Seminus, Microcode, achat-terrain.com. The sites achat-terrain.com and constructeurs-maisons.com, created in 2005, were acquired in September 2012. ''Campus-Channel'', a video platform for students launched in 2011, was acquired by Figaro Classifieds in June 2014. In 2015, CCM Benchmark Group was fully acquired, including leading websites like '' L'Internaute'', ''Journal du Net'', ''Le Journal des femmes'', Droit-finances.net. The acquisition of these leading sites allowed Figaro to move from the fifteenth place in non-mobile web traffic to fourth place, with 24 million unique visitors, behind Google (41 million), Microsoft (35 million), and Facebook (26 million).

* Media Figaro (formerly Publiprint, formerly Figaro media) (advertising agency),
* Météo Consult and La Chaîne Météo,
* Particulier et Finances Éditions,
* Figaro Classifieds (Cadremploi, Keljob.com, Explorimmo, Propriétés Le Figaro, Le Figaro Étudiant, KelFormation, etc.)
* Marco Vasco.

Group partnerships

Le Figaro sponsored the sailing race, the Solitaire du Figaro, since its creation in 1970.

The newspaper and the ''Center for Political Research at Sciences Po'' (CEVIPOF) presented their "Political Studies." ''Le Figaro'' replaced ''Le Monde'' as a partner of the program '' Le Grand Jury'' in September 2006.

In partnership with Dargaud Benelux, the newspaper launched in 2010 a 20-volume collection of XIII in a "prestige" edition Thibaut Dary,
XIII: The VII Reasons for a Triumph
" ''Le Figaro'', June 29, 2010. and a pre-publication of the latest volumes of the series throughout the summer of the same year in '' Le Figaro Magazine''. Additionally, the daily also offered a selection of comic books, from Largo Winch to Blake and Mortimer to Gaston, Tintin, Lucky Luke, and Spirou and Fantasio.

See also

* ''Le Monde''
* ''Libération''
*'' Madame Figaro''

References

Further reading

* Merrill, John C. and Harold A. Fisher. ''The World's Great Dailies: Profiles of Fifty Newspapers'' (1980) pp 124–29

External links

website


digital archives from 1826 to 1952
in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF

{{DEFAULTSORT:Figaro
1826 establishments in France
The Carlyle Group companies
Centre-right newspapers
Conservative media in France
Daily newspapers published in France
Dassault Group
French news websites
Gaullism
Liberal conservatism
Liberal media in France
Newspapers established in 1826
Newspapers published in Paris
Private equity portfolio companies