Les Echos, a newspaper that has stood the test of time
An editorial line that defends a market economy open to Europe and the world since 1908
The national daily press, Les Echos, has become a true source of information for many French citizens. Its development in digital, which has become the leading distribution channel in France in 2020, has enabled it to develop its audience, making it the fourth most popular media in the country.
In 2007, the LVMH group decided to replace the bankrupt newspaper La Tribune by buying the newspaper Les Echos to expand its press and media division. However, the announcement of this takeover was not shared by the majority, as the editorial team of Les Echos was unanimous in its desire to preserve its independence. A general strike as well as a petition (signed by many personalities) were set up by the team of the newspaper to stop this takeover, its main competitor La Tribune also went on strike to avoid being replaced (L’Express, 2007). Despite a counter-offer supported by the editorial team and journalists, this was not considered and Les Echos was sold on 5 November 2007 to the LVMH group for the sum of 240 million euros. Then in 2015, following the acquisition of the newspaper Le Parisien, the LVMH group created the Les Echos- Le Parisien group. This group covers several sectors, such as Les Echos entrepreneur, Les Echos capital finance, Les Echos marchés publics and many others…
The newspaper has a classical format (Berliner format) which is the most common format for newspapers. The website has eleven sections based mainly on economy and finance (economy, politics, world, business…) these sections are themselves subdivided into sub-categories to allow a more precise search for the reader (politics: political life, society, local authorities…). Les Echos offers on its website a free version for restricted access to the newspaper’s articles: the articles entitled “subscriber selection” are not accessible in their entirety, the reader can only read the first lines of the article. The reader is informed that he/she can subscribe to the newspaper to have access to the whole article. There are six types of offers: digital, digital without commitment, weekend, newspaper + digital, digital first and corporate offers. These different offers range from €18 per month, with unlimited access to the site and the application, to €29 per month, which includes delivery of the newspaper and other privileges.
The newspaper Les Echos has been present on Instagram since 30 April 2014 where it posts three messages per day, it is also present on Facebook since 05 May 2010 on which it posts more than thirty publications per day and is also present on Twitter since November 2009 on which it posts and re-post publications of these newspapers (Echos enterprises), about thirty per day. All of the newspaper posts are written in a serious tone and are intended to introduce the subject of an article. This is an example of a tweet.
Those who really write the script of a confined France are a few overworked senior officials, entrenched in deserted offices.
INQUIRY, at the top of the State, in the backstage of the first confinement.
In order to keep its readers awake and interested, Les Echos journalists often publish quotes from famous people to redirect readers to an article on the website. In addition, Les Echos offers podcasts on different themes such as music, French Tech etc. On the website one can choose to subscribe to Newsletters, these newsletters are also specific as the reader can choose to receive them in the morning to get the news when the reader wakes up, in the evening to know the news of the day and many others.
Les Echos is a newspaper that diversifies a lot in order to always attract the reader’s attention. It has remained modern over the years and has managed to reinvent itself and take the digital turn. It is a reliable newspaper that is a real source of information, I have learned to use it regularly through my school which often gives us articles to read from this source. I find it easy to read but it is still professional, it is a newspaper accessible to all and it targets a wide audience because the Les Echos group is interested in areas such as finance, the economy but also music and the environment.
