Minute (French newspaper)
Encyclopedia
Minute is a weekly newspaper, initially right-wing but now extreme-right, circulated in France
since 1962. Its editorial position is satirical
and conservative
. According to figures announced by the paper's leadership, it had a circulation of 40,000 copies each week in 2006.
. In its first years, Minute included a large number of articles devoted to show-biz and humorous cartoons. The paper's politics rapidly hardened particularly following the end of the Algerian war; it became less devoted to show-biz news, and turned into a political newspaper regarded as right-wing but supporting no particular party.
During its grande époque until 1981, Minute sold 250,000 issues per week. The editorship was invited every Sunday to participate in Club de la presse, a political show broadcast on television and radio. The tone was critical of Charles de Gaulle
, and the paper had many readers among those disaffected by the Algerian war. The editorials of François Brigneau, who had joined the paper in 1963, were noted for their biting anti-Gaullist prose. In 1965 the paper contributed to the revelation of the Ben Barka affair.
The list of shareholder-benefactors of the paper included such names as Fernand Raynaud, Françoise Sagan
, Juliette Gréco
(despite being left-wing), Eddie Barclay
and Marcel Dassault
.
Devay died of cancer
in 1971. He was replaced as head of publication by Jean Boizeau. Brigneau took on the chief editorship for a time but the extreme political tone which he infused into the paper led to his replacement, and he returned to his duties as star editor. In the 1970s
the paper adopted an extreme-right editorial line.
, sales of the paper started to fall off.
Minute stood out for its highly critical tone with respect to the political classes, and was particularly anti-communist
. The paper contributed in bringing the charges against Georges Marchais
by the l'Express
weekly, by whom he was criticised as having volunteered to work in Germany
during the Second World War, and against Georges Guingouin
, former leader of the wartime Maquis du Limousin
. Serge de Beketch
, formerly head of information, became chief editor in 1979 before leaving the paper in 1986 when Jean-Marie Le Pen
chose him to lead National-Hebdo. Among other famous Minute journalists was Patrick Buisson, historian of the Organisation de l'armée secrète and, 30 years later, adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy
.
Over 1987 and 1988 there was an editorial split between Minute and Le Chardon. Le Chardon would only last a few months before the editorial team reformed under the name Minute-Le Chardon. In 1990, Serge Martinez, a Front National deputy at the time who would ultimately be the second-in-command of Bruno Mégret
and one of his chief financiers, bought Minute. He transformed the look and the news. The title became La France, with Minute only appearing as a subtitle, or surtitle depending on the issue. As of October 2009 the paper is known as Minute-La France.
In 1993 Gérald Penciolelli bought Minute with the intention of turning it back into its original form and abandoning the "news" type presentation. Its form factor was also changed to match that of Le Canard enchaîné
with the tail slogan "Not all ducks (canards) are on the left".
In February 1999, Nicolas Miquet attempted unsuccessfully to purchase Minute, which had come into financial difficulty. In April Penciolelli's editorial team was disbanded. In the issue dated March 1999, the leadership appealed to its most faithful readers to save the paper. Publication stopped for a few months, during which Miquet launched the paper L'Hebdo, subtitled Le Nouveau Minute. The editorial team, in conflict with Penciolelli, announced its intention to buy back the paper and in the interim published the pastiche Un Faux Minute (a false Minute), denouncing the actions of both Penciolelli and Miquet. In December, the paper was bought back by Catherine Barnay, who was close to Penciolelli. In January 2002, it was bought by Jean-Marie Molitor, still making use of the title.
During the French presidential election, 2002
Minute predicted, along with some of politically like-minded newspapers such as the daily Présent
, the weeklies Rivarol
and National-Hebdo, and the 10-day frequency Le Libre Journal, the probability that prime minister Lionel Jospin
would be eliminated in the first round of voting, and that Jean-Marie Le Pen
might qualify for the second round. The weekly satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné had also envisaged this possibility.
Since Minute is not affiliated with a powerful press conglomerate, it is highly dependent on sales revenues. Little by little, Minute has disappeared from certain retail outlets where it had no more than one or two buyers. According to the newspaper, this amounts to a boycott of papers with weak following. Minute asserts that other newspapers borrow from it without proper reference, citing the affair of Mitterrand's daughter (see below).
Minute has been regularly convicted of defamation, which has led to its inclusion in French Trivial Pursuit
as the answer to "Which newspaper can boast the highest number of court proceedings?
In 1999, the paper refused to take sides in the schism of the Front National between the supporters of Bruno Mégret
and Jean-Marie Le Pen
. In an editorial published in July 2006 Jean-Marie Molitor made a call for unity between partisans of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Philippe de Villiers
. Minute has also repeatedly called for the right wing of the UMP to join the coalition.
During the Kosovo war
, Minute supported the Serb regime and its leader Slobodan Milošević
. The first page of the issue circulated on 31 March 1999 was entitled "The Serbs are protecting us against Islamist invasion. Today, Kosovo, tomorrow, France".
Before the 2002 French presidential elections, Minute published more than 50 conversations with elected members of the RPR, the UDF and the Front National, and organised debates between right-wing and Front National personalities. This led to polemics by certain left-wing personalities, including Julien Dray
, protesting at the significant number of deputies from the UMP who had agreed to interviews with Minute.
For the 2006 FIFA World Cup
, Minute headlined with "Are there too many blacks in the French team?". The issue released before the world cup final led "Bye-bye hooligan" with a photo of Zinedine Zidane
, who had been sent off the field after head-butting an Italian player who had insulted him. The article which followed compared Zidane to a hooligan from the banlieue, the rough suburbs.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1962. Its editorial position is satirical
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
and conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
. According to figures announced by the paper's leadership, it had a circulation of 40,000 copies each week in 2006.
Right-wing period
In 1962, Minute was created by Jean-François Devay, former director of L'AuroreL'Aurore (1944 newspaper)
L'Aurore was a French newspaper first sold on 11 September 1944, soon after the Liberation of Paris. Its name refers to the previous, unrelated publication, L'Aurore . Publication ended in 1985....
. In its first years, Minute included a large number of articles devoted to show-biz and humorous cartoons. The paper's politics rapidly hardened particularly following the end of the Algerian war; it became less devoted to show-biz news, and turned into a political newspaper regarded as right-wing but supporting no particular party.
During its grande époque until 1981, Minute sold 250,000 issues per week. The editorship was invited every Sunday to participate in Club de la presse, a political show broadcast on television and radio. The tone was critical of Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
, and the paper had many readers among those disaffected by the Algerian war. The editorials of François Brigneau, who had joined the paper in 1963, were noted for their biting anti-Gaullist prose. In 1965 the paper contributed to the revelation of the Ben Barka affair.
The list of shareholder-benefactors of the paper included such names as Fernand Raynaud, Françoise Sagan
Françoise Sagan
Françoise Sagan – real name Françoise Quoirez – was a French playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. Hailed as "a charming little monster" by François Mauriac on the front page of Le Figaro, Sagan was known for works with strong romantic themes involving wealthy and disillusioned bourgeois...
, Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco
Juliette Gréco, — also Michelle – is a French actress and popular chanson singer.-Early life and family:Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal...
(despite being left-wing), Eddie Barclay
Eddie Barclay
Eddie Barclay was a French music producer whose singers included Jacques Brel and Charles Aznavour. He founded Barclay Records.-Life:...
and Marcel Dassault
Marcel Dassault
Marcel Dassault, born Marcel Bloch was a French aircraft industrialist.-Biography:Dassault was born in Paris. After graduating from the lycée Condorcet, Breguet School and Supaero, he invented a type of aircraft propeller used by the French army during World War I and founded the Société des...
.
Devay died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 1971. He was replaced as head of publication by Jean Boizeau. Brigneau took on the chief editorship for a time but the extreme political tone which he infused into the paper led to his replacement, and he returned to his duties as star editor. In the 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
the paper adopted an extreme-right editorial line.
Extreme-right
In the second half of the 1970s, Minute adopted a hard-right line marked by its support for the Front National (the French National Front party), to whom they devoted many articles, and who ultimately head-hunted their information officer. At the very beginning of the 1980s1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...
, sales of the paper started to fall off.
Minute stood out for its highly critical tone with respect to the political classes, and was particularly anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
. The paper contributed in bringing the charges against Georges Marchais
Georges Marchais
Georges René Louis Marchais was the head of the French Communist Party from 1972 to 1994, and a candidate in the French presidential elections of 1981 - in which he managed to garner only 15.34% of the vote, which was considered at the time a major setback for the party.-Early life:Born into a...
by the l'Express
L'Express (France)
L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...
weekly, by whom he was criticised as having volunteered to work in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
during the Second World War, and against Georges Guingouin
Georges Guingouin
Georges Guingouin was a French Communist Party militant who played a leading role in the French resistance as head of the Maquis du Limousin...
, former leader of the wartime Maquis du Limousin
Maquis du Limousin
The Maquis du Limousin was one of the largest Maquis groups of French resistance fighters.The region of Limousin was an active area of resistance since 1940. Edmond Michelet distributed tracts calling to continue the war in all Brive-la-Gaillarde's mailboxes on June 17, 1940. It is considered to be...
. Serge de Beketch
Serge de Beketch
Serge André Yourevitch Verebrussoff de Beketch was a French journalist, story writer for cartoons and writer linked to the extreme-right...
, formerly head of information, became chief editor in 1979 before leaving the paper in 1986 when Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
chose him to lead National-Hebdo. Among other famous Minute journalists was Patrick Buisson, historian of the Organisation de l'armée secrète and, 30 years later, adviser to Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
.
Over 1987 and 1988 there was an editorial split between Minute and Le Chardon. Le Chardon would only last a few months before the editorial team reformed under the name Minute-Le Chardon. In 1990, Serge Martinez, a Front National deputy at the time who would ultimately be the second-in-command of Bruno Mégret
Bruno Mégret
Bruno Mégret is a French Far-right politician. He is the leader of the Mouvement National Républicain political party, but retired in 2008 from political action.-Youth and studies:...
and one of his chief financiers, bought Minute. He transformed the look and the news. The title became La France, with Minute only appearing as a subtitle, or surtitle depending on the issue. As of October 2009 the paper is known as Minute-La France.
In 1993 Gérald Penciolelli bought Minute with the intention of turning it back into its original form and abandoning the "news" type presentation. Its form factor was also changed to match that of Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné
Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France. Founded in 1915, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.-Early...
with the tail slogan "Not all ducks (canards) are on the left".
In February 1999, Nicolas Miquet attempted unsuccessfully to purchase Minute, which had come into financial difficulty. In April Penciolelli's editorial team was disbanded. In the issue dated March 1999, the leadership appealed to its most faithful readers to save the paper. Publication stopped for a few months, during which Miquet launched the paper L'Hebdo, subtitled Le Nouveau Minute. The editorial team, in conflict with Penciolelli, announced its intention to buy back the paper and in the interim published the pastiche Un Faux Minute (a false Minute), denouncing the actions of both Penciolelli and Miquet. In December, the paper was bought back by Catherine Barnay, who was close to Penciolelli. In January 2002, it was bought by Jean-Marie Molitor, still making use of the title.
During the French presidential election, 2002
French presidential election, 2002
The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates on 5 May 2002. This presidential contest attracted a greater than usual amount of international attention because of Le Pen's unexpected appearance in...
Minute predicted, along with some of politically like-minded newspapers such as the daily Présent
Présent
Présent is a French newspaper . It was founded in 1982. It is close to the French Front National, and follows a traditionalist Catholic editorial line. Jean Madiran was for long its editor in chief and is still involved in it....
, the weeklies Rivarol
Rivarol (magazine)
- External links :* ...
and National-Hebdo, and the 10-day frequency Le Libre Journal, the probability that prime minister Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin
Lionel Jospin is a French politician, who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002.Jospin was the Socialist Party candidate for President of France in the elections of 1995 and 2002. He was narrowly defeated in the final runoff election by Jacques Chirac in 1995...
would be eliminated in the first round of voting, and that Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
might qualify for the second round. The weekly satirical magazine Le Canard enchaîné had also envisaged this possibility.
Current political position
Today, Minute is a newspaper close to the extreme-right which styles itself as uniting the monarchist and nationalist right.Since Minute is not affiliated with a powerful press conglomerate, it is highly dependent on sales revenues. Little by little, Minute has disappeared from certain retail outlets where it had no more than one or two buyers. According to the newspaper, this amounts to a boycott of papers with weak following. Minute asserts that other newspapers borrow from it without proper reference, citing the affair of Mitterrand's daughter (see below).
Minute has been regularly convicted of defamation, which has led to its inclusion in French Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit
Trivial Pursuit is a board game in which progress is determined by a player's ability to answer general knowledge and popular culture questions. The game was created in 1979 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by Canadian Chris Haney, a photo editor for Montreal's The Gazette and Scott Abbott, a sports...
as the answer to "Which newspaper can boast the highest number of court proceedings?
In 1999, the paper refused to take sides in the schism of the Front National between the supporters of Bruno Mégret
Bruno Mégret
Bruno Mégret is a French Far-right politician. He is the leader of the Mouvement National Républicain political party, but retired in 2008 from political action.-Youth and studies:...
and Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen
Jean-Marie Le Pen is a French far right-wing and nationalist politician who is founder and former president of the Front National party. Le Pen has run for the French presidency five times, most notably in 2002, when in a surprise upset he came second, polling more votes in the first round than...
. In an editorial published in July 2006 Jean-Marie Molitor made a call for unity between partisans of Jean-Marie Le Pen, Philippe de Villiers
Philippe de Villiers
Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, known as Philippe de Villiers, born on 25 March 1949, is a French politician. He was the Mouvement pour la France nominee for the French presidential election of 2007. He received 2.23% of the vote, putting him in sixth place. As only the top...
. Minute has also repeatedly called for the right wing of the UMP to join the coalition.
During the Kosovo war
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
, Minute supported the Serb regime and its leader Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
. The first page of the issue circulated on 31 March 1999 was entitled "The Serbs are protecting us against Islamist invasion. Today, Kosovo, tomorrow, France".
Before the 2002 French presidential elections, Minute published more than 50 conversations with elected members of the RPR, the UDF and the Front National, and organised debates between right-wing and Front National personalities. This led to polemics by certain left-wing personalities, including Julien Dray
Julien Dray
Julien Dray was born on 5 March 1955 in Oran, French Algeria. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Essonne department, and is a member of the Socialiste, radical, citoyen et divers gauche.-Works:...
, protesting at the significant number of deputies from the UMP who had agreed to interviews with Minute.
For the 2006 FIFA World Cup
2006 FIFA World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...
, Minute headlined with "Are there too many blacks in the French team?". The issue released before the world cup final led "Bye-bye hooligan" with a photo of Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Yazid Zidane is a retired French footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. Zidane was a leading figure of a generation of French players that won the 1998 World Cup and 2000 European Championship...
, who had been sent off the field after head-butting an Italian player who had insulted him. The article which followed compared Zidane to a hooligan from the banlieue, the rough suburbs.
Main editors
These people have written or illustrated for Minute. This list does not contain information about which of the paper's two main eras each person was active in.- Gérard Angèle ;
- François Brigneau ;
- Henri Gault and Christian MillauChristian MillauChristian Millau is a food critic and author. In 1965 he founded the restaurant guide Le Nouveau Guide with Henri Gault and Andre Gayot. He was originally slated to be one of the judges at the historic Judgment of Paris wine tasting event of 1976 but was replaced by his brother Claude...
(founders of the Gault & Millau guide) ; - Jean-Pax Méfret 1969-1974 ;
- Philippe Couderc ;
- Patrick Buisson ;
- Michel Lancelot ;
- Jean Montaldo 1964-1972 ;
- Éric Asudam (Michel-Georges Micberth) ;
- Alain Fournier, alias Alain Camille or ADG
- Jean-Yves Le GallouJean-Yves Le GallouJean-Yves Le Gallou is a leading French far right politician, member of the European Parliament since the 1994 election.- Career :...
; - Serge de Beketch ;
- Jean Bourdier ;
- Roland GaucherRoland GaucherRoland Gaucher was the pseudonym of Roland Goguillot, a French far-right journalist and politician. One of the main thinkers of the French far-right, he had participated in Marcel Déat's fascist party Rassemblement National Populaire under the Vichy regime...
; - Jacques TillierJacques TillierJacques Tillier is a French journalist. He is the managing editor of the l'Union, L'Est-Éclair, Libération Champagne and L'Aisne Nouvelle. He was seriously injured in 1979 by Jacques Mesrine while working for the Minute...
; - Jean-Pierre Cohen ;
- René Le Honzec ;
- Jean Mabire ;
- Philippe Colombani ;
- Father Guillaume de Tanoüarn ;
- Pierre Marie GalloisPierre Marie GalloisPierre Marie Gallois was a French air force brigadier general and geopolitician. He was instrumental in the constitution of the French nuclear arsenal. This earned him the nickname of father of the French atom bomb...
; - Vladimir VolkoffVladimir VolkoffVladimir Volkoff , was a French writer of Russian extraction. He produced both literary works for adults and spy novels for young readers under the pseudonym Lieutenant X. Volkoff is sometimes considered the French Cold War writer par excellence...
; - Pinatel ;
- Konk ;
- Bruno Larebière ;
- Jean-Marie Molitor ;
- Jérôme RivièreJérôme RivièreJérôme Rivière is a French politician. and now lawyer member of the Paris Bar Association since 2006...
; - Alain SuguenotAlain SuguenotAlain Suguenot is a member of the National Assembly of France. He represents the Côte-d'Or department, and is a member of the Union for a Popular Movement.-References:...
; - Yannick Urrien
- Paule Drouault
Anecdotes
- Pierre DesprogesPierre DesprogesPierre Desproges was a French humorist. He was famous for his elaborate, eloquent and above all, virulent diatribes criticizing anything and everything....
wrote : "Do you read Minute? No? You should, it's interesting. Instead of soiling yourself by reading all of SartreJean-Paul SartreJean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre was a French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic. He was one of the leading figures in 20th century French philosophy, particularly Marxism, and was one of the key figures in literary...
, buy an issue of Minute.. for fewer than ten francs you'll have Nausea and Dirty HandsDirty handsDirty hands is a metaphor used in moral and political philosophy and everyday conversation to symbolize the sullying of one's moral standing by dealing with unsavory matters...
at once!".
- It is frequently alleged that Paris-Match first revealed the existence of François MitterrandFrançois MitterrandFrançois Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the only figure from the left so far elected President...
's daughter Mazarine PingeotMazarine PingeotMazarine Marie Pingeot , who changed her name to Mazarine Marie Pingeot-Mitterrand in 2005, is a writer, journalist and professor.-Life:...
. In fact it was Minute, some five years earlier. No other newspaper took up the story although most journalists knew that the information was accurate.