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| Categories | News magazine |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Weekly |
| Circulation | 288,361 (2020) |
| Publisher | Le Point Communication |
| Founded | 1972 |
| First issue | 1 September 1972; 53 years ago (1972-09-01) |
| Company | Groupe Artémis |
| Country | France |
| Based in | Paris |
| Language | French |
| Website | www |
| ISSN | 0242-6005 |
Le Point (French pronunciation:[ləˈpwɛ̃]) is a French weekly political andconservative news magazine published in Paris. It is one of the three major French news magazines.[1][2]
Le Point was founded in 1972 by former journalists ofL'Express and quickly rose to become a major competitor. The magazine has changed ownership multiple times since its inception and is currently owned by Artémis, an investment group of billionaire businessmanFrançois Pinault.
Le Point was founded in September 1972[3][4] by a group ofjournalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team ofL'Express,[5][6] which was then owned byJean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, adéputé (member ofparliament) of theParti Radical, a centrist party.
The company operatingLe Point,Société d'exploitation de l'hebdomadaire Le Point (SEBDO Le Point) has its head office in the14th arrondissement of Paris.[7][8] The founders focused on readers' needs, which becameLe Point's ideal,[5] published by Le Point Communication on Thursdays.[9][10]
After a fairly difficult start in September 1972, the magazine quickly challengedL'Express. The editorial team of spring 1972 found financial backing withHachette and was then directed by Claude Imbert. Other journalists making up the team were: Jacques Duquesne, Henri Trinchet,Pierre Billard, Robert Franc, and Georges Suffert. The management included Olivier Chevrillon and Philippe Ramond. It has changed ownership several times.Gaumont bought the magazine in 1981.[11] In 1993,Generale Occidentale purchased 82.5% of publisher Sebdo, the owner of magazine Le Point from Gaumont.[12]
In 1997 the magazine was acquired by its current owner Artémis, a French investment group founded and owned by the billionaire businessmanFrançois Pinault.[11][13] In 2001, the logo and layout ofLe Point was changed.[11] The weekly recruited journalists from theParisianpress and relied on its ability to redefine thegenre. It modeled itself closely onTime Magazine andNewsweek.
Franz-Olivier Giesbert waschief executive officer ofLe Point from 2000 until 18 January 2014, when Etienne Gernelle replaced him. Giesbert, however, remained an adviser to the magazine and continued to write editorials and articles.[14][15] It publishes a list regarding the reputation of companies, Baromètre d’Image des Grandes Entreprises.[16]
In February 2025, Erwan Seznec, a journalist working forLe Point, allegedly wrote to aFrench Wikipedia editor that his employer would publish an article revealing their personal information over a dispute with content the editor had added to the magazine's French Wikipedia article. The editor added content which describedLe Point as "populist" and "increasingly close to the right-wingIdentitarian movement". Seznec denied accusations that he had madedoxing threats, saying he had merely asked for corrections.Le Point backed and defended Seznec, describing the edits and accusations as a "series of malicious acts" and the sources cited for the edits as unreliable.[17][18]
Le Point has aconservative,centre-right stance without any party affiliation.[6][7][13]
Le Point had a circulation of 336,000 copies in 1981.[19] It was 311,000 copies in 1987 and 320,000 copies in 1988.[19]
In 2001Le Point had a circulation of 303,000 copies.[9] During the 2007-2008 period its circulation was 419,000 copies.[20] In 2009 the circulation of the magazine was 435,000 copies.[11] Its circulation in 2011 was 428,114 copies.[21] The 2013 circulation of the magazine was 417,062 copies.[10] The 2020 circulation of the magazine was 288,361 copies.[22]
| Year | Circulation |
|---|---|
| 2006 | 408,931 |
| 2007 | 443,956 |
| 2008 | 443,738 |
| 2009 | 434,745 |
| 2010 | 429,650 |
| 2011 | 430,086 |
| 2012 | 432,813 |
| 2013 | 417,940 |
| 2014 | 401,171 |
| 2015 | 380,222 |
| 2016 | 355,586 |
| 2017 | 330,602 |
| 2018 | 301,722 |
| 2019 | 292,795 |
| 2020 | 279,032 |
(in French)| International | |
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| National | |
