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via Editors Weblog by Emma Heald on 1/10/11
Fréderic Filloux's Monday Note looked at the problems facing Le Monde as it moves towards a revamp under new ownership. The "iconic" French daily was bought in September 2010 by Pierre Bergé, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse and president of the paper's management board, Eric Fottorino, was ousted from his position in December due to "differences of opinion" with the new owners. Fottorino has been replaced by Louis Dreyfus, who announced that Le Monde will now separate the managerial and editorial leadership of the paper - Fottorino had held both. The company is now looking for a new editorial director of the paper, and according to Agence France-Presse, nine people have announced their candidacy, including the paper's editor, Sylvie Kauffmann and four other Le Monde journalists, Arnaud Leparmentier, Rémy Ourdan, Olivier Biffaud et Jean-Michel Dumay. Bernard Guetta, journalist and columnist and Claude Leblanc, editor-in-chief of Courrier International are also candidates, and the remaining two are anonymous. The future director should be a "journalist without political engagement, either from within or outside the paper," according to the requirements set out by the owners, with multimedia experience.
Filloux himself had been approached as a potential candidate for the director position, but explained in Monday Note that he was not interested due to the fact that he believes the job has no influence on the company's strategy, and that he disagrees with the selection process.
The problems he sees the paper facing are both editorial and industrial. The editorial one is "relatively minor:" it is Le Monde's "slightly austere and pretentious worldview." Filloux believes that Le Monde has a great editorial team but it is too concerned with remaining the paper of record and it does not pay enough attention to subjects that are popular with readers. This should not be too hard to change, however.
The paper's website is not up to par, Filloux said, and needs more editorial alignment with that of the paper.
The more serious problems, Filloux believes, concern money and strategy. The paper was on the verge of bankruptcy last year, and the new owners must act soon, he says. Le Monde owns a printing plant that is overly costly and inefficient, according to Filloux: he believes it must be closed. The group's digital subsidiary, Le Monde Interactif is the most valuable division but is partially (34%) owned by the Lagadère Groupe, and Filloux believes that Le Monde needs to regain control of its digital strategy. Within five years, he claims, Le Monde will be read "mostly on mobile devices." LePost.fr, Le Monde's pro-am effort is "bleeding money," and should be sold or closed down, he adds.
Which direction will Le Monde take? Will the paper make the changes necessary to embrace and thrive in the digital age?
Source: Monday Note, AFP (1), (2), Le Monde
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