“Fight obscurantism and all extremes through rationality with a weekly manifesto”
. This was the ambition of the editorial directors of
Franc-tireur
, Christophe Barbier and Éric Decouty, at the launch of the new eight-page political weekly on November 17. A few weeks later, the
“info-opinion”
magazine , edited by the press group Czech Media Invest (CMI)
(Elle, Version Femina, Télé 7 jours or Marianne),
and sold for two euros, he said. finally managed to meet his audience? In the columns of
Figaro
, the two men explained wanting to touch
"The French silent majority, defender of republican values, which does not make itself heard in the media space saturated by controversies".
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With around 160,000 copies, the first issue of Franc-tireur, devoted to a major survey on
"The fundamentalists of Zemmour"
has sold 72,000 copies.
The following four issues, which respectively for their coverage entitled "
Europe, sponsor of the Islamists
", "
The ultra-right, the other terrorist threat
", "
The Trumpist landing
" and "
School, separatism alert
", produced newsstand sales around 40,000 copies.
"
The sale at newsagents is well above the objectives
", welcomed CMI France in its press release published on Wednesday.
More than 12,000 print and digital subscribers
In an economic model where press titles are increasingly turning to digital,
Franc-Tireur
has opted for print.
“We wanted to assert the identity of our magazine as a manifesto.
The paper is used to socially and collectively display membership in the Franc-tireur community, ”
explained Christophe Barbier and Éric Decouty.
In terms of subscriptions, the weekly "
info-opinion
" exceeded the 12,000 subscribers mark at the beginning of January (print and digital).
Following its pre-subscription campaign launched in October 2021,
Franc-Tireur
had recruited more than 4,000 contributors.
Some digital subscriptions offer readers the option of participating in editorial conferences and dinners with the teams.
On the online site, Internet users can also find videos and live debates to involve readers in the life of the newspaper or even podcasts.
“We are proud of these first results. With its original format and its daring editorial proposal, which passionately carries the voice of reason to fight against obscurantism, Franc-Tireur has been able to meet expectations. His free, frank, argued, nuanced and complex words convince new readers every week
, ”said Bertrand Gaillard de Saint-Germain, DGA of CMI France.
10,000 copies per week to achieve breakeven
Without advertising,
Franc-Tireur
is financially supported by the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, founder and director of CMI. He advanced around 1 million euros for this project. With Le Figaro, Christophe Barbier estimated the editorial costs of
Franc-tireur
at less than 10,000 euros per issue, to which are added the printing and distribution costs of the magazine.
"We need 10,000 copies per week to achieve balance,"
he estimated.
Franc-Tireur
now has around twenty contributors.
Feathers well known to the general public, such as the essayist Caroline Fourest, editorial advisor to the magazine, the philosopher Raphaël Enthoven, who will sign an editorial each week for one, the economists Philippe Aghion, Olivier Babeau or the lawyer Rachel Khan, or the former leader of Force Ouvrière Jean-Claude Mailly.
Each week, freelancers also deliver a double page survey on social topics.