Bolloré teams up with L’Equipe
French media tycoon Vincent Bolloré wants sports paper L’Equipe to provide two daily pages of sports news every day for his afternoon free daily Direct Soir.
A deal, however, has not yet been closed, also because the journalist union Société des journalistes (SDJ) has doubts about the partnership. Teaming up with the ‘low cost’ paper might hurt the image of L’Equipe: “décrédibiliserait notre journal et ses journalistes.”
L’Equipe sells around 350,000 copies a day (down from 400,000 in 2000). Direct Soir, launched in June 2006, has a distribution of 470,000.
The ‘low cost’ feature might not be the biggest problem of Direct Soir. Picking up a copy of the paper last Friday in Paris, it was quite clear that the paper also lacks journalistic quality. Direct Soir definitely is not going for the Pulitzer Prize or any French equivalent of that.
Last Friday’s issue had no less than four pages on George W. Bush’ African AIDS program, with the US president smiling with happy Africans on every picture. The story did not have a by-line of a Direct Soir journalist, indicating that it was a PR-story that found its way into the paper. Also the African interests of owner Bolloré might have played a role in choosing this subject. Other issues of last week, however, were not much better.
Advertising in the paper is minimal, apart from an in-company ad for Bolloré’s commercial television channel Direct 8, there was only one page of advertising - other issues had some more ads.
Also readership seems to be a problem. At Friday afternoon, although the paper was handed out at many Metro entrances, I spotted very few people (well, none actually, except myself) reading the paper. It looked as if many copies ended up very soon in the famous Paris see-through waste bags. (Performance Bourse)