 | |
| Type | Regional daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Rossel Group |
| Founded | 1941; 84 years ago (1941) |
| Language | French |
| Headquarters | Lille |
| Circulation | 199,713 (as of 2020) |
| ISSN | 0999-2189 |
| Website | www |
La Voix du Nord (French pronunciation:[lavwadynɔʁ]ⓘ,lit. 'The Voice of the North' or 'The Voice ofNord') is a regional dailynewspaper from the north ofFrance. Its headquarters are inLille.[1]
Voix du Nord was one of theunderground newspapers of the French Resistance founded inGerman-occupied France duringWorld War II. The paper first appeared in Lille in April 1941 at a time when the region ofNord-Pas-de-Calais was being ruled bya German military government inBrussels.[2] The newspaper's tag-line described itself as the "Resistance organ ofFrench Flanders."[2]
The post-war version of the paper is part of the Belgian company,Rossel group,[3] which also owns the major Belgian newspaperLe Soir, which it bought fromSocpresse in 2006.
La Voix du Nord is a clandestine newspaper that gave rise to a movement of political resistance. The resistance group was calledVoix du Nord ("Voice of the North"—of France, or, "Voice of theNord "—a French department). Sixty-five copies of the first issue of the newspaper were printed, dated April 1941. It clearly announced the newspaper's mission statement:
In France no newspaper, no radio, and no man can speak freely in the French language. The only French voices come to us through the radio from London; we are in agreement with them; and we believe: one does not compromise with duty and honor; one does not compromise with evil; one does not collaborate with the enemy.
The newspaper affirmed its support for General de Gaulle and its opposition to theVichy government. At the outset, they were two very different men:Jules Noutour,police brigadier, trade unionist, andsocialist member of theSFIO party; joined byNatalis Dumez [fr],socialCatholic[clarify]. Dumez was the heart and soul of the editorial staff: she was primarily responsible for the four hundred articles that appeared in the first 39 issues. Noutour was arrested on 8 September 1943 and deported toGross Rosen, where he died 1 February 1945.[5]
From the four Roneotyped pages of the first day, the newspaper rapidly grew to six, and then ten pages. Due to the difficulties in obtaining supplies of paper, the page count was later reduced to four pages in February 1943. Circulation was around 900 copies initially, growing to 15,000 in January 1943. The paper came out every two weeks through September 1942, and monthly from 1943 on.
The last two issues were published in July and August 1944 under the responsibility of Jules Houcke, who published the first openly distributed issue of "La Voix du Nord" on September 5, 1944. The first page is crossed out, with a headline spanning six columns: "The Northern Region is free. Freedom and independence were purchased at a high price: prison, torture, death camps for more than 530 people, who wrote, printed, and distributed these newspapers."[b]
After the war, the paper was reborn as a hybridpartnership and limited liability company "La Voix du Nord - Houcke and Company". They took over the premises of theGrand Écho du Nord [fr], and as was the habit elsewhere in France, they kept the staff on as well, and it was they who produced the former newspaper of the Resistance. For the original journalists who were actually part of the Resistance and notably the two co-founders who had not yet returned from deportation abroad in February 1945, it was a betrayal by pseudo-Resistance members.[6] The shares of the new company rose in 1945, the original owners and members were priced out, and it took thirty years of litigation before they achieved success. In the 1950s, the paper started printing various local editions, giving it a regional coverage.
Voix du Nord is published intabloid. The paper sponsors theGrand Prix de Fourmies bicycle race.[citation needed]
| Year | Circulation |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 323,000[1] |
| 2000 | 332,000[7] |
| 2001 | 320,000[8] |
| 2002 | 307,191[9] |
| 2003 | 315,000[10] |
| 2014 | 231,066[11] |
| 2015 | 226,214 |
| 2016 | 214,542 |
| 2017 | 209,203 |
| 2018 | 204,219 |
| 2019 | 207,861 |
| 2020 | 199,713 |
| 2021 | 193,018[12] |
