The Awakening of Haute-Loire: a look back at a wonderful adventure over 80 years

A guerrilla machine gun in his arm and a truck hastily borrowed from the Puy scrap dealer, Albert Mounier, known as the Baron. The story of L’Éveil de la Haute-Loire begins in October 1944 with a “muscular” and unorthodox journey to Clermont-Ferrand to obtain the paper which was so lacking at the time… “It was necessary to use means more determining than those of conversation”, recounted Louis Rabaste a few years later, with his sense of the formula. Without going so far as to speak of a founding act, the episode alone sums up the beginnings of this newspaper in the post-war turmoil and proves the pugnacity of the young editor-in-chief, then 26 years old, appointed to carry this new daily life.The newspaper’s first (modest) premises, at 13 Place Michelet, in the heart of Puy-en-Velay.

The first issue of L’Éveil appeared on Friday, October 20 in the afternoon, printed in a few hundred copies on a modest cylinder press in premises located at 13 place Michelet, the former members of La Liberté, a newspaper of right removed upon exit from occupation. Everything then had to be done in this basement workshop “with two dark and filthy rooms which looked like cellars”, described the local historian Auguste Rivet. The daily which claims to be “Christian, democratic and social inspired” intends to offer another voice in a press landscape where we only find L’Appel, publication of the Departmental Committee for the Liberation, anchored on the left, and the Catholic weekly Renouveau. In this first issue published in tabloid format, readers discover the latest advances on the war front across Europe, but also a call to “rally” signed Léon Cabanes, resistance fighter and founder of L’Éveil. Like all the titles born during this period, L’Éveil was then a journal of information, but also of ideas and opinions after four long years of censorship.Rue de la Passerelle. Premises occupied from 1962 to 1985

“Our garden is not big, but we cultivate it well”

Personalities from Puy, from diverse backgrounds and with different opinions, are at the origin of its birth. With a few resources, they launched the project at the end of September 1944 at the home of André Soulier, pharmacist and future mayor of Puy, and entrusted the reins of the title to a young journalist trained at the excellent Nouvelliste school in Lyon and from Vellavian families. : Louis Rabaste. The boy has desire and temperament. Patience should also be added because although L’Éveil gradually finds its audience, progress is slow, week after week. The precarious financial balance was not achieved until 1949.
The Duplex, offered by a generous donor, arrived at the same time and helped improve the impression of the title which ended up making a name for itself throughout Velay. In the shadows, men and women participate daily in the small miracle of giving birth to a newspaper and distributing it. We can cite Joseph Mialon, Lucien Barroz, Jean Larrivière or Pierre Berger.
80 years after the publication of its first issue, L’Éveil is still there, faithful to its history and the principles established by its founders: those of offering complete and quality information, with the stated desire to stick as close as possible to its territory and its inhabitants. “Our garden is not big, but we cultivate it well,” Louis Rabaste liked to summarize, founder who died in December 2009 at the age of 91. Few newspapers have the privilege of celebrating their 80th anniversary: ​​L’Éveil is part of this very closed circle, without falling into the worst sin for a newspaper, that of pride.An end-of-year meal for L’Eveil employees in the 1970s.

Because we owe this tremendous longevity to you, loyal readers. A strong relationship, very special one should say, was built every day, over the thousands of issues published. A singular relationship, perhaps even unprecedented in the French media landscape, as L’Éveil that you hold in your hands is one with its territory to tell the life, the joys, the dramas or the challenges of Haute-Loire and its inhabitants. With the same care for the news of a small town often carried by such valuable correspondents as for the major decisions of our department handled by the editorial journalists. L’Éveil has established itself as “everyone’s newspaper”, in a local landscape where competition has never lacked: an opportunity for readers and a great stimulation for our editorial staff.At 13 place Michelet, the first premises of L’Éveil. Photo dr

This 80th anniversary, while it is an opportunity to recall the foundations of the title and its history, is not intended to be a summary of nostalgia. L’Éveil, a dashing octogenarian, looks to the future as he has always known how to do, with lucidity and ambition. Inspired by its founders, it has always known how to live with the times, banking on technology, anticipating revolutions in the press and investing for the future. Among the innovations, we could cite the efforts made for an innovative printing center in the 80s, the transition to tabloid in the 2000s, the growth of its website which has become number 1 in Haute-Loire in recent years or again the multiplication of its special series which have always met their audience.In 1985, the printing center was installed at 9 place Michelet. photo dr

Without denying its values, your newspaper has also been able to shake up a few principles to keep up with the times

Bought in 2013 by Center France and its flagship La Montagne, L’Éveil continues to “grow” within a recognized press group which allows it to develop and editorially to offer even more varied information. A logical, almost natural alliance between Velay and Auvergne, the fruit of exchanges started in the 1960s by Louis Rabaste…Louis Rabaste was at the origin of the daily in October 1944. Photo dr

Without denying its values, your newspaper has also been able to shake up some principles to live with the times and the new habits of society. Among the most recent, we can note the change to mornings implemented in 2022, breaking with a long tradition of publication in the afternoon. This upheaval, judged by some as a crime against the institution, immediately convinced our readers who find their Awakening at breakfast time rather than snack time. Last May, your daily newspaper also crossed the barrier of the Col de Fix-Saint-Geneys, to settle in the Brivadois instead of La Montagne, to be the link of the Haute-Loire. These developments are sometimes more painful and we will not ignore the closure of the presses at Place Michelet in 2019 for full-color printing in Clermont-Ferrand. The Center France group began a few weeks ago the construction of a modern printing center on the Cebazat site (Puy-de-Dôme) where L’Éveil will be printed from the beginning of 2025. Proof if it This is because we still believe in paper and in the future of our title, while at the same time developing major efforts on our website leveil.fr, crowned in 2024 by an increase of almost 70%. We must also salute all those, yesterday as today, who contributed to the daily miracle of publishing the newspaper. The versatile journalists whose pens accompany you, the workers and employees of the company, the administrative staff, the sales staff, the correspondents, the porters who contribute to the longevity of L’Éveil. Let’s not forget our advertisers, our distributors present throughout the country. L’Éveil de la Haute-Loire and all of its teams also have a moving thought in memory of Roland Eymère, who passed away last August. The latter spent his entire career in our newspaper, becoming its director in 2010 until 2015.Within the editorial staff, the work of journalists during the flood episode.

With this precious heritage summarized in these few lines, your trust but also your loyalty, L’Éveil will continue its mission to inform you. And continue this beautiful adventure…

Christophe Darne