Paris Match from one billionaire to another

The weight of words, the shock of photos and a sale for 120 million euros: Paris Match changes ownership on Tuesday and passes into the hands of billionaire Bernard Arnault, thus leaving the fold of conservative magnate Vincent Bolloré.

This date of October 1 marks the finalization of the sale of the famous magazine to LVMH, a luxury giant headed by Mr. Arnault. It was announced to everyone’s surprise in February by the Lagardère group.

The latter was swallowed up at the end of 2023 by Vivendi, Vincent Bolloré’s group, accused of interference in the editorial line of the weekly on several occasions in recent years.

The sale of Match is “a bit of a heartbreak”more “It’s an offer that cannot be overlooked”commented in April Arnaud Lagardère, CEO of the company that bears his name.

At 75 years old, this emblematic title of photojournalism, whose slogan has long been “the weight of words, the shock of photos”combines major war reports and immersion in the privacy of stars and politicians. It still sells more than 440,000 copies each week.

Its sale contributes to Lagardère’s debt reduction strategy, while sealing the agreement between Vincent Bolloré and Bernard Arnault, who had coveted it for a long time.

“A liberation”

Asked by AFP, LVMH, already owner of Le Parisien and Les Échos, does not wish to detail its plans for the magazine immediately.

“Paris Match will be managed separately from the Les Échos-Le Parisien group”only indicated the CEO of the latter, Pierre Louette, in September in Le Figaro. He “will benefit from a different legal entity and real autonomy, while benefiting from the support of our management and broadcasting”.

There is a “want to redo the Paris Match of the great era” et “so to rehire” after the numerous departures that have occurred in recent years, reports to AFP a journalist from the weekly wishing to remain anonymous.

More “we do not yet have a very clearly stated editorial strategy”. The editorial staff was also invited to a meeting on Tuesday.

Directed by Jérôme Béglé and located at the Paris headquarters of Lagardère News like that of Journal du Dimanche (JDD) or Europe 1, the Paris Match editorial staff will move in 2025 “in new premises in Paris”according to an internal message consulted by AFP.

Soon finished, therefore, the “cantoche with Pascal Praud”a figure on CNews and Europe 1, quips the journalist interviewed by AFP.

According to him, “it’s more of a release for the editorial staff” to leave the Bolloré media sphere, regularly accused by the left of promoting far-right ideas.

And to cite the multiplication these “last three–four months” of front pages dedicated to the Catholic religion dear to the billionaire, apart from “the DNA of Paris Match”.

The September 19 edition was dedicated to a community of sisters with Down syndrome and the August 14 edition to the Virgin Mary.

Blacklist

Paroxysm of the shocks experienced by the magazine, its society of journalists (SDJ), guarantor of respect for ethical rules, was scuttled at the start of the year.

In the summer of 2022, she was outraged by a front page dedicated to the ultra-conservative cardinal Robert Sarah, then by the dismissal of the political and economic editor-in-chief of Paris Match Bruno Jeudy, replaced by CNews figure Laurence Ferrari.

The latter now chairs the JDD and JDNews brands, a new weekly news magazine launched in September.

Less feared than Vincent Bolloré, Bernard Arnault is also the subject of criticism concerning his relationship to press freedom. According to the specialized publication La Lettre, the billionaire notably expressed to LVMH executives a “absolute ban on speaking” to seven media outlets, a blacklist against which around forty editorial staff protested on Monday.

“We will do as others do with their big manufacturers” press bosses, puts the Paris Match journalist into perspective.