History of French journalism
[1] Both the brief public opinion pamphlets and daily life periodicals were reviewed and edited heavily in order to indirectly influence the people, even hiring writers for such propaganda.
[2] Radical Republican journalism experienced a dramatic proliferation as the Estates General convened: “in that month [May 1789] over a hundred pamphlets appeared… and the figure rose to 300 in June”.
[3] Between 1789 and 1799, over 1,300 new newspapers had emerged, combined with a large demand for pamphlets and periodical literature, which caused a flowering, albeit short-lived press.
[4] While official regulations attempted to suppress dissent in large-scale publications, some smaller papers and journals provided readers with more radical subject matter.
[7] Such is the case of the royalist daily pamphlet: Ami du Roi produced and distributed by the abbé Royou and his influential sister, Madame Fréfron.
[9] This was especially inflammatory following the shootings on the Champ de Mars just a year before in July, where a large number of protesters illegally gathered signatures.
Both liberal and conservative publications together became the main communication medium; newspapers were read aloud in taverns and clubs and circulated amongst patrons.
[11] Newspapers changed their names and titles frequently to avoid being censored or banned, and multiple journalists were executed at the guillotine during this time including Jacques Pierre Brissot and Camille Desmoulins.
Jean-Paul Marat gained enormous influence through his powerful L'Ami du peuple with its attacks on scandals and conspiracies that alarmed the people until he was assassinated in 1793.
In addition to Marat, numerous important politicians came to the fore through journalism, including Maximilien de Robespierre and Jacques Hébert.
[19] Under these laws, censorship was light, but there were restrictions such as the requirement to pay a large deposit with the government, and a stamp tax of five centimes on each copy.
In June 1836 La Presse became the first French newspaper to include paid advertising in its pages, allowing it to lower its price, extend its readership and increase its profitability; other titles soon copied the formula.
The heavy-handed censorship of the First World War, the conscription of journalists, and the severe shortage of newsprint, drastically undercut the size, scope, and quality of all the newspapers.
New types of popular newspapers, especially Le Petit Journal reached an audience more interested in diverse entertainment and gossip rather than hard news.
The illustrated popular press revolutionized the rural opportunities for entertaining and colorful news, and helped modernize traditional peasants into Frenchmen.
[30] The Roman Catholic Assumptionist order revolutionized pressure group media by its national newspaper La Croix.
It vigorously advocated for traditional Catholicism while at the same time innovating with the most modern technology and distribution systems, with regional editions tailored to local taste.
Secularists and Republicans recognize the newspaper as their greatest enemy, especially when it took the lead in attacking Dreyfus as a traitor and stirred up anti-Semitism.
Foreign governments, especially Russia and Turkey, secretly paid the press hundreds of thousands of francs a year to guarantee favorable coverage of the bonds it was selling in Paris.
In a word, the newspapers were not independent champions of the truth, but secretly paid advertisements for special interests and foreign governments.
The major postwar success story was Paris Soir; which lacked any political agenda and was dedicated to providing a mix of sensational reporting to aid circulation, and serious articles to build prestige.
[34] John Gunther wrote in 1940 that of the more than 100 daily newspapers in Paris, two (L'Humanité and Action Française's publication) were honest; "Most of the others, from top to bottom, have news columns for sale".
The regional and local newspapers were heavily dependent on government advertising and published news and editorials to suit Paris.
Newsreels were tightly censored; they were told to feature non-controversial but glamorous entertainers, film premieres, sporting events, high-fashion, new automobiles, an official ceremonies.
Motion pictures likely likewise were censored, and were encouraged to reinforce stereotypes to the effect that the French were always lovers of liberty and justice, contending against cruel and barbarous Germans.
[37] The press was heavily censored during the Second World War; the Paris newspapers were under tight German supervision by collaborators; others were closed.
[40] In the early 21st century, the best-selling daily was the regional Ouest-France in 47 local editions, followed by Le Progres of Lyon, La Voix du Nord in Lille, and Provençal in Marseille.
