Marianne (magazine)
Marianne (French pronunciation: [maʁjan]) is a weekly Paris-based French news magazine founded in 1997 by Jean-François Kahn and Maurice Szafran. Its original political slant was described as left-wing sovereigntist. Since 2018, its editor-in-chief is Natacha Polony. In 2021 its editorial line was frequently compared to Valeurs actuelles by left-wing media.[1]
Type | Weekly magazine |
---|---|
Format | Compact |
Owner(s) | Czech Media Invest |
Editor-in-chief | Natacha Polony (redaction chief) |
Founded | 1997 |
Political alignment | Left-wing sovereignist |
Headquarters | Paris |
Circulation | 135,536 (2020) |
ISSN | 1275-7500 |
Website | www.marianne.net |
History and profile
Marianne was created in 1997[2] by Jean-François Kahn[3][4] with Maurice Szafran as editorialist. It takes its name from an earlier, now defunct magazine. The main shareholder was the company of Robert Assaraf with 49.4% of the shares.[5] Czech Media Invest, owner of Czech News Center, acquired most of the magazine from Yves de Chaisemartin in 2018.[6]
Marianne claims a circulation of 300,000 copies per week, reaching a peak of 580,000, with the French news magazine record-breaker "The Real Sarkozy" in April 2007.[7] During the period of 2007–2008 the circulation of the magazine was 275,000 copies.[8] It was 264,000 copies in 2010[9] and about 146,000 in late 2016.[10]
2007 presidential election
During the 2007 French presidential election Marianne's editors Jean-François Kahn, Maurice Szafran and Nicolas Domenach openly supported the centre-right candidate François Bayrou, although at the same time they exposed "the editors' favourite" and advocated for French Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal.
Furthermore, they conducted a strong anti-Sarkozy campaign in the magazine including a special issue released on April 14~20 (#521), the day before the vote, arguing that right-wing candidate Nicolas Sarkozy was "insane" (which was the title of a previous issue)[11] in a negative portrait "of all dangers" (de tous les dangers). Such aggressive practice rather common in Great Britain and the United States is unusual in France.
Issue #521 "The Real Sarkozy" (Le Vrai Sarkozy) was named after the popular anti-Sarkozy propaganda video first released on July 5, 2006 in online services – as Dailymotion (+2,132,686 views) French counterpart of YouTube (+927,770) – by left wing supporters group RéSo (close to the French Socialist Party's Dominique Strauss-Kahn wing) author of the "AntiSarko" 2005 online campaign, which became the magazine's best seller (580,000 copies).[7] It was since then made online for free in the magazine's website.[12] The issue sold well with an exceptional out of print and two reprints,[7] but some journalists argued that the criticisms against Sarkozy actually strengthened Sarkozy's supporters per the victimization process.
The previous issue's (#520) cover titled "Sarkozy's fault: he chose Bush's America against Chirac's France" (La faute de Sarkozy: Il choisit l'Amérique de Bush contre la France de Chirac)[13] as a reference to Sarkozy having been one of the few French politicians initially supporting the 2003 invasion of Iraq which has been described by the French far-left and left-wing as a "fault",[14] as well as by a part of the Gaullist right-wing as a "mistake".
See also
- Marianne, the publication's namesake and symbol of France
References
- Bock, Pauline (16 June 2021). "L'hebdo Marianne se voit-il encore à gauche ?". Arrêt sur Images (in French).
- "Historical development of the media in France" (PDF). McGraw-Hill Education. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- Lawrence D. Kritzman; Brian J. Reilly (2007). The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought. Columbia University Press. p. 722. ISBN 978-0-231-10790-7. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
- "France -- Media Guide 2008" (PDF). Open Source Center. 16 July 2008. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
- esj-lille.fr Archived 2006-11-16 at the Wayback Machine
- "Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky's Czech Media Invest Bids On French Weekly Marianne". Prague Business Journal. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
- 80,000 new units of Marianne's issue about "The True Sarkozy" Archived 2007-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, Marianne, 19 April 2007
- Anne Austin; et al. (2008). "Western Europe Market & Media Fact" (PDF). ZenithOptimedia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
- "Western Europe Media Facts. 2011 Edition" (PDF). ZenithOptimedia. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
- Partenariats: Mediapart attaque Marianne. Dommage colatéral à Libé, Arrêt Sur Images, 1 February 2017
- Marianne #? Sarkozy est-il fou?, 27 November 2006)
- Marianne #521, 14 April 2007
- Marianne #520, 7 April 2007
- "Controversy around Sarkozy's trip, AFP French press agency / TF1-LCI private national channel, 11 September 2006". Archived from the original on 3 November 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2007.
External links
- (in French) Official website