Mediapart

Mediapart is an independent French online investigative and left-leaning opinion journal created in 2008 by Edwy Plenel,[1] former editor-in-chief of Le Monde. Mediapart is published in French, English and Spanish.

Mediapart
FormatOnline
PublisherEdwy Plenel
EditorFrançois Bonnet
Founded2008[1]
LanguageFrench, English, Spanish
HeadquartersParis, France
Circulation140,000[2][1]
Websitemediapart.fr

Description

Mediapart's income is solely derived from subscription fees; the website does not carry any advertising.[1] In 2011 Mediapart made a profit for the first time, netting €500,000 from approximately 60,000 subscribers.[3]

Mediapart consists of two main sections: Le Journal, run by professional journalists, and Le Club, a collaborative forum edited by its subscriber community. In 2011, Mediapart launched FrenchLeaks, a whistleblower website inspired by WikiLeaks.[4][5]

In March 2017, Edwy Plenel stated that the online journal had 130 000 subscribers.[6] By March 2018, it had reached 140 000 subscribers.[2]

Landmark investigations

Mediapart has played a central role in the investigation and revelation of several major French political scandals, including:

  • The Bettencourt affair in 2010.[7]
  • The Sarkozy-Gaddafi case in 2012. Mediapart made public two official Libyan documents suggesting the existence of a €50 million transfer from the Libyan regime to Sarkozy's 2007 presidential campaign.
  • The Cahuzac affair in 2012. Mediapart made public an audio recording from 2000 compromising Jérôme Cahuzac, then France's Minister for the Budget, in a fiscal fraud case.[8]
  • Former National Front candidate Jean-Claude Veillard's role in the payment of taxes to ISIS middlemen by Lafarge in 2013–2014.[9]
  • The Benalla Affair. On 31 January 2019, Mediapart released voice recordings attributed to Alexandre Benalla and Vincent Crase which suggested serious offenses committed by the two.[10] On 4 February 2019, the office of Mediapart was subjected to a raid which failed as Mediapart refused it on the ground that the warrant was not authorised by a judge. The raid was in connection with a new investigation concerning a breach of Benalla's and Crase's privacy, prompted by the office of the Prime Minister.[11] Neither of the two have launched action against Mediapart for breach of privacy. Mediapart sees in the raid an attempt by the Government to reveal and intimidate the source of the voice recordings and to stifle journalistic rights to inform the public.[12] Mediapart has never been subject to such a raid before, and received support from other press organisations and the European Federation of Journalists.[13] The incident is reported by the New York Times[14] and the Washington Post.[15]
  • In July 2019, Mediapart revealed that €63,000 of public money had been spent by François de Rugy on the refurbishment of his official residence (including €19,000 on a dressing room), and published photographs of lobster and champagne dinners allegedly taken between October 2017 and June 2018, implying profligacy at the taxpayers' expense whilst he was President of the National Assembly.[16][17] On 16 July 2019, Rugy resigned as Ecology Minister.[18]

References
  1. Kim Willsher, "How pioneering Mediapart has set the French news agenda", The Guardian, 16 March 2008.
  2. Plenel, Edwy (6 March 2018). "Mediapart a dix ans. Et dix ans, ça ne suffit pas!" (in French). Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  3. "Breaking down the paywall". Global Journalist. 22 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 26 January 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. Smith, Sydney (12 March 2011). "New WikiLeaks Partner Launches FrenchLeaks, Canadian Man Launches QuebecLeaks". iMediaEthics. Art Science Research Laboratory. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  5. Cherubini, Federica (11 March 2011). "FrenchLeaks launches: a new whistle-blowing site from Mediapart". Editor's Weblog. World Association of Newspapers and New Publishers. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  6. Plenel, Edwy. "Mediapart a neuf ans : nos comptes, nos résultats". Club de Mediapart (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2018.
  7. Jacinto, Leela (6 July 2010). "How a start-up news site broke and rode the Bettencourt scandal". France 24. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
  8. Sayare, Scott (19 March 2013). "French Minister Steps Down in Swiss Bank Investigation". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  9. de Boni, Marc (3 May 2017). "Un ex-candidat du FN impliqué dans les relations troubles entre Lafarge et Daech". Le Figaro. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  10. Turchi, Fabrice Arfi, Antton Rouget and Marine. "Probe launched into Russian oligarch contract linked to Élysée security aide". Mediapart.
  11. "Benalla: Matignon a transmis des éléments au parquet, dit Griveaux". Reuters via Mediapart. 6 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  12. Mediapart, La Rédaction De. "Mediapart blocks prosecutors' bid to search offices over Macron security aide affair". Mediapart.
  13. "France: Mediapart secret sources threatened by police search attempt". European Federation of Journalists. 8 February 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  14. Breeden, Aurelien (8 February 2019). "Attempted Raid on News Site's Offices Prompts Outcry in France". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  15. McAuley, James (6 February 2019). "Macron under fire after attempted search of French news outlet Mediapart". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  16. "Chastised French minister: I hate caviar and suffer a lobster..." Reuters. 12 July 2019.
  17. "Lobster and champagne: French minister in hot water for living the lavish life on public funds". France 24. 11 July 2019.
  18. "Top French minister resigns after reports of lavish lifestyle". Los Angeles Times. 17 July 2019.
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