{{Short description|French daily newspaper founded in 1944}} {{for-multi|the book by René Descartes|The World (Descartes){{!}}''The World'' (Descartes)|other uses|Monde (disambiguation)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox newspaper | name = Le Monde | logo = Le monde logo.svg | logo_caption = Logo of ''Le Monde'' | image = Une Le Monde.jpg | caption = Front page on the Franco-Soviet Treaty of Alliance from the first issue of ''Le Monde'', 19 December 1944 | type = Daily newspaper | format = Berliner | founded = 19 December 1944 | founder = Hubert Beuve-Méry | headquarters = Paris, France | language = French<br />English (digital edition, since April 2022)<ref>{{cite web |language=en |title=Le Monde launches digital English language edition, partly translated by AI |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/apr/07/le-monde-launches-digital-english-language-edition-partly-translated-by-ai |website=The Guardian |date=7 April 2022 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |language=en |title=Le Monde Launches English Website on Eve of French Election |trans-title=Le Monde Launches English Website on Eve of French Election |work=Bloomberg |date=7 April 2022 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-07/le-monde-launches-english-website-on-eve-of-french-election |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> | circulation = 479,243 | circulation_date = 2022 | price = €3.80 (Sunday–Monday through Friday issues),<ref>{{cite web |title=Presse : des hausses de prix à l'horizon pour 2025 |trans-title=Press: price increases on the horizon for 2025 |url=https://unionpresse.fr/presse-des-hausses-de-prix-l-horizon-pour-2025 |website=unionpresse.fr |date=2 January 2025 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> €5.50 (Saturday issue) | owner = Groupe Le Monde | publisher = Société éditrice du Monde | editor = Louis Dreyfus, Jérôme Fenoglio | issn = 0395-2037 | eissn = 1950-6244 | oclc = 833476932 | website = https://www.lemonde.fr }}
'''''Le Monde''''' ({{IPA|fr|l(ə) mɔ̃d|lang}}; {{lit|The World}}) is a French newspaper founded in 1944 by Hubert Beuve-Méry. It is the most widely read paid national daily newspaper in France, with 2.44 million readers in 2021, and the most widely circulated, with around 500,000 subscribers, including 414,000 digital subscribers and 87,000 print subscribers.
It presents itself as a "newspaper of record".<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde |url=https://www.courrierinternational.com/notule-source/le-monde |website=Courrier international |access-date=16 December 2025 |trans-title=Le Monde }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Olivier Perrin |title=« Le Monde » fait sa toilette |trans-title="Le Monde" undergoes a makeover |work=Le Temps |date=27 January 2009 |url=https://www.letemps.ch/monde/monde-toilette |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> Former editor Éric Fottorino preferred not to describe the newspaper as a "newspaper of record", stating instead that it was "not just any newspaper", but rather one that "claims to become the reference, an alloy of competence and editorial independence built over several decades".<ref>{{cite news |author=Éric Fottorino |title=Écrire une nouvelle page |trans-title=Writing a new page |work=Le Monde |issue=20460 |date=14 November 2010 |page=19 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/a-la-une/article/2010/11/03/ecrire-une-nouvelle-page_1434819_3208.html?search-type=classic&ise_click_rank=1 |language=French }}</ref> It is nevertheless widely regarded as such,<ref>{{cite web |author=Patrick Eveno |title=Le Monde, un journal en péril ? |trans-title=Le Monde, a newspaper in danger? |website=La Revue des médias |publisher=Institut national de l'audiovisuel |date=13 October 2010 |url=https://larevuedesmedias.ina.fr/le-monde-un-journal-en-peril |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> including internationally.<ref>{{cite web |author=Mehdi Khelfat |title="Le Monde", 75 ans au cœur de l'actualité du monde |trans-title="Le Monde", 75 years at the heart of world affairs |publisher=RTBF |date=18 December 2019 |url=https://www.rtbf.be/info/medias/detail_le-monde-75-ans-au-c-ur-de-l-actualite-du-monde?id=10391618 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde |trans-title=Le Monde |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Le-Monde |access-date=16 December 2025 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |language=en |title=France profile – Media |trans-title=France profile – Media |work=BBC News |date=25 April 2017 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17299010 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
''Le Monde'' is the last French daily traditionally described as an "evening paper". It is published in Paris in the early afternoon with the following day's date, and later in some major cities, before being distributed elsewhere the next morning.
According to Radio France, ''Le Monde'' has adopted successive editorial lines since its founding, generally located, albeit reductively, on the centre-left.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde |trans-title=Le Monde |website=Radio France |date=15 May 2009 |url=https://www.radiofrance.fr/franceinter/podcasts/l-edito-politique/le-monde-1338757 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> A 2010 academic work also characterises its editorial stance as centre-left.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Piet |first1=Grégory |title=La guerre à Gaza, de l'analyse du discours médiatique à l'analyse politologique : l'état et les relations internationales en question |last2=Wintgens |first2=Sophie |last3=Stans |first3=David |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2010 |location=Bern |page=25 |language=French |trans-title=The war in Gaza, from media discourse analysis to political science analysis: the state and international relations in question}}</ref> In April 2022, an Ifop survey indicated that among regular readers of ''Le Monde'', 48% voted for left-wing candidates in the first round of the 2012 presidential election, and 27% voted for Emmanuel Macron.
''Le Monde'' is owned by Groupe Le Monde. Its shareholding structure includes the holding company {{Interlanguage link|Le Monde libre|fr|Le Monde libre (entreprise)}}, notably owned by Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, and the {{Interlanguage link|Independence Pole|fr|Pôle d'indépendance du Groupe Le Monde}}, held by employees, trade unions, and associations.<ref>{{cite web |title=Groupe Le Monde : communiqués du Pôle d'indépendance et du Fonds pour l'indépendance de la presse |trans-title=Groupe Le Monde: statements from the Independence Pole and the Fund for Press Independence |website=Le Monde |date=23 April 2024 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-et-vous/article/2024/04/23/groupe-le-monde-communiques-du-pole-d-independance-et-du-fonds-pour-l-independance-de-la-presse_6229436_6065879.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
==History== === 1944–1968: Foundation and establishment as a newspaper of record === thumb|The editorial offices of ''Le Monde'' were located at 5, Rue des Italiens, Paris, from its creation until 1989 (photograph taken in 2015).
The first issue of ''Le Monde'' was published on 18 December 1944,<ref>{{cite book |author=Collectif |title=Le guide de la presse |publisher=Alphom |year=2002 |isbn=2-9508627-1-3 |location=Mâcon |pages=108–110 |language=French |trans-title=The Press Guide}}</ref> dated 19 December 1944, and consisted of a single double-sided page. It succeeded the newspaper ''Le Temps'', which had been shut down under the {{Interlanguage link|Ordinances of 1944 on the press|fr|Ordonnances de 1944 sur la presse}} targeting publications that appeared during the German occupation of France during World War II. The premises of ''Le Temps'' were requisitioned and its equipment seized. ''Le Monde'', as beneficiary of this confiscation, adopted its format and layout, took over much of its editorial staff, workers, and employees, as well as its former offices on Rue des Italiens, where it would remain for 44 years. This location earned it the nickname "the Rue des Italiens daily".
General de Gaulle, who wished to provide France with a "prestige newspaper" oriented toward international affairs and serving as an unofficial voice of the Republic, was a driving force behind its creation.{{Sfn|Eveno|1996|p=53}} He tasked his Minister of Information, Pierre-Henri Teitgen, with finding a director, a difficult task since many press figures of the time had either collaborated during the occupation or were already leading newspapers of the clandestine press.{{Sfn|Eveno|2001|p=24}} Georges Bidault, president of the National Council of the Resistance, suggested Hubert Beuve-Méry. Beuve-Méry hesitated for a long time, as he sought to run a newspaper independent of political, economic, and religious powers.
On 11 December 1944, Hubert Beuve-Méry founded the limited liability company (SARL) ''Le Monde'' with capital of 200,000 francs divided into 200 shares. Its first editorial committee also included René Courtin, a professor of law, and Christian Funck-Brentano, formerly responsible for press matters in General de Gaulle's cabinet.{{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=33}} Like ''Le Temps'', the daily was intended for elites, and reached a circulation of 150,000 copies as early as 1945. Born in the shadow of political power, ''Le Monde'' gradually emancipated itself under Beuve-Méry, who secured its editorial independence during the Cold War and the First Indochina War.<ref>{{cite book |author=Annie Finkeldei |title=Histoire et idéologie du journal Le Monde |publisher=Verlag Shaker |year=1993 |page=61 |language=French |trans-title=History and Ideology of the Newspaper Le Monde}}</ref>
Employees have played a central role in the management of the newspaper. In 1951, the ''Le Monde'' Journalists' Society was created to safeguard the paper's editorial independence. It was initially allocated just over 28% of the shares of SARL Le Monde.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : Histoire d'un journal, un journal dans l'Histoire |publisher=J.-C. Simoën |year=1978 |page=239 |language=French |trans-title=Le Monde: History of a Newspaper, a Newspaper in History}}</ref> (This was followed by companies representing employees and managers in 1968, and readers in 1985.) In 1956, ''Le Monde'' became the owner of its building at 5 Rue des Italiens. From the early 1960s onward, its circulation expanded rapidly, tripling over 20 years, from 137,433 copies in 1960 to 347,783 in 1971, and nearly 500,000 by the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |author=Laurent Martin |title=La presse écrite en France au XXe siècle |publisher=Le Livre de poche |language=French |trans-title=The Written Press in France in the 20th Century}}</ref>
This financial and editorial independence was also political. The newspaper became a meeting point for several major currents of thought, primarily linked to Christian democracy in domestic affairs and to moderate anti-colonialism in foreign policy.
These positions generated debate. In addition to tensions with de Gaulle, Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, head of the foreign affairs section, left the newspaper in the early 1950s, criticizing what he saw as its neutralism in East–West relations.<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : 1944–1996 |publisher=Plon |year=1996 |isbn=2-259-18299-2 |location=Paris |page=195 |language=French}}</ref> In 1954, ''Le Monde diplomatique'' was launched.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde diplomatique fête ses 50 ans |trans-title=Le Monde diplomatique celebrates its 50th anniversary |website=L'Obs |date=10 May 2004 |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/culture/20040507.OBS8920/le-monde-diplomatique-fete-ses-50-ans.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> In 1955–1956, the Conseil national du patronat français, chaired by Georges Villiers, considered ''Le Monde'' too left-leaning and decided to support the launch of a competing daily, ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Temps de Paris|fr}}''. The operation was coordinated by {{Interlanguage link|Jean Jardin|fr}}, a former close adviser to Pierre Laval. When the first issue appeared in March 1956, Beuve-Méry was reassured by what he considered the competitor's mediocre quality; publication ceased after only a few months.
In 1957, the newspaper refused to publish an article by Jean-Paul Sartre on the use of torture during the Algerian War.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Anne Mathieu |date=1 November 2004 |title=Jean-Paul Sartre et la guerre d'Algérie |trans-title=Jean-Paul Sartre and the Algerian War |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2004/11/MATHIEU/11678 |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> Under the Fifth Republic, the newspaper supported General de Gaulle's foreign policy,<ref>{{cite book |author=Jacques Thibau |title=Le Monde : 1944–1996 |publisher=Plon |year=1996 |isbn=2-259-18299-2 |location=Paris |pages=322–323 |language=French}}</ref> while criticizing his domestic policies.
=== 1969–1981: Evening newspaper of the centre-left === Hubert Beuve-Méry, the founder of the newspaper, retired in 1969.<ref>{{cite news |title=(1/12) Le jour où... Beuve-Méry recruta ses premiers compagnons |trans-title=(1/12) The day when... Beuve-Méry recruited his first companions |newspaper=Le Monde |date=21 July 2014 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/festival/article/2014/07/21/1-12-le-jour-ou-beuve-mery-recruta-ses-premiers-compagnons_4460073_4415198.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> During the 1970s, the paper clearly moved toward supporting the Union of the Left{{Sfn|Eveno|2001|p=24}} and denounced the financial scandals that erupted under the Presidency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (notably the Diamonds Affair). The strong hostility of the newspaper's journalists toward Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was examined in a 2014 investigation entitled ''Le jour où... « Le Monde » choisit de torpiller Giscard'' ("The day when... 'Le Monde' chose to torpedo Giscard").<ref name="Bacque">{{cite news |author=Raphaëlle Bacqué |title=Le jour où... « Le Monde » choisit de torpiller Giscard |trans-title=The day when... "Le Monde" chose to torpedo Giscard |newspaper=Le Monde |issue=21623 |date=26 July 2014 |pages=18–19 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/festival/article/2014/07/25/le-jour-ou-le-monde-choisit-de-torpiller-giscard_4462574_4415198.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
In her investigation, Raphaëlle Bacqué revisited the Diamond affair as it was experienced within ''Le Monde'' and emphasized the highly political nature of its coverage. She noted in particular the general hostility of the newsroom's journalists toward Giscard d'Estaing and their closeness to the Socialist and Communist opposition. She also described internal debates between those, such as political editor Raymond Barillon, who were cautious and reluctant to relay the revelations of ''Le Canard enchaîné'', and others, such as columnist Philippe Boucher, who strongly opposed "Giscardism" and wanted to push the story further by linking it to additional revelations, including those reported by ''Minute'' concerning a building permit obtained by Raymond Barre and information about the African assets of Giscard's cousins. Philippe Boucher, later appointed to the Council of State by François Mitterrand, acknowledged in 2014 that he had been somewhat excessive in his handling of the affair.<ref name="Bacque" />
At the time, although the editorial line did not explicitly claim to be left-wing, it was generally sympathetic to revolutionary socialist movements (Vietnam, the Portuguese Revolution), going so far as to headline "Phnom Penh liberated" when the city was taken by the Khmer Rouge in April 1975.<ref>{{cite news |author=Patrice De Beer |title=Phnom Penh libérée |trans-title=Phnom Penh liberated |newspaper=Le Monde |date=18 April 1975 |language=French }}</ref>
In 1981, Claude Julien succeeded Jacques Fauvet. Readership was then at its peak. The newspaper supported the candidacy of François Mitterrand in the 1981 French presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |title=" Et Mitterrand suspendit son abonnement " |trans-title="And Mitterrand suspended his subscription" |newspaper=Le Monde |date=23 August 2012 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2012/08/23/et-mitterrand-suspendit-son-abonnement_1749077_3236.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> After the Socialist candidate's victory, Jacques Fauvet wrote in the 11 May 1981 issue:
{{blockquote |quote=This victory is finally that of respect over disdain, realism over illusion, frankness over artifice—in short, that of a certain morality. }}
Following the election, the newspaper's open support for François Mitterrand cost it a significant number of readers.<ref>{{cite journal |title=La fin du Monde ? Tradition and change in the French press |journal=French Politics, Culture & Society |volume=22 |issue=1 |date=Spring 2004 |language=English }}</ref>
=== 1982–1994: Financial and editorial difficulties === In 1985, {{Interlanguage link|André Laurens|fr}}, who had succeeded Claude Julien in 1982, was removed from the newspaper's leadership following a decline in circulation. While the paper had sold an average of {{formatnum:434000}} copies between 1974 and 1981, circulation fell to {{formatnum:335000}} copies in 1985, dropping below the break-even point.{{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=33}} Laurens was criticized in particular for his relationship with François Mitterrand's brand of socialism.
He was replaced by André Fontaine.<ref>{{cite news |title=« Le Monde », un journal et les pouvoirs |trans-title="Le Monde", a newspaper and power |newspaper=Le Temps |date=29 September 2001 |issn=1423-3967 |url=https://www.letemps.ch/opinions/monde-un-journal-pouvoirs |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> Under Fontaine, the editorial line distanced itself from Mitterrandism, notably expressing skepticism about the nationalization policy pursued by Pierre Mauroy.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-08-23 |title=Et Mitterrand suspendit son abonnement |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2012/08/23/et-mitterrand-suspendit-son-abonnement_1749077_3236.html |access-date=2025-12-18 |language=fr}}</ref> The sinking of the ''Rainbow Warrior'' in particular allowed the newspaper to demonstrate its independence and led to a rebound in sales.{{Sfn|Eveno|2001|p=52}} ''Le Monde'' subsequently took a leading role in exposing scandals of the Mitterrand era, such as the Irish of Vincennes affair and the {{Interlanguage link|Carrefour du développement affair|fr|Affaire du Carrefour du développement}}.{{Sfn|Eveno|2001|p=48}} A marked animosity then developed between Mitterrand and the newspaper, targeting in particular journalist Edwy Plenel.<ref>{{cite news |author=Edwy Plenel |title=" Le Monde est-il un danger pour la démocratie ? " |trans-title="Is 'Le Monde' a danger for democracy?" |newspaper=Le Monde |date=25 February 2003 |language=French }}</ref> Several ''Le Monde'' journalists were subjected to {{Interlanguage link|illegal wiretapping by the authorities|fr|Affaire des écoutes de l'Élysée}}.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jérôme Dupuis |title=Le journaliste et le président |trans-title=The journalist and the president |newspaper=L'Express |date=11 September 1997 |url=http://www.lexpress.fr/informations/le-journaliste-et-le-president_624184.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
In 1985, BNP required the newspaper to sell its historic building on the Rue des Italiens.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=151}} ''Le Monde'' moved to 15 {{Interlanguage link|Rue Falguière|fr}} (15th arrondissement) in April 1989, into a building designed by architects Pierre du Besset and {{Interlanguage link|Dominique Lyon|fr}}. It later relocated to 21 bis {{Interlanguage link|Rue Claude-Bernard|fr}} (5th arrondissement) in 1996, and finally, in 2004, to Boulevard Auguste-Blanqui (13th arrondissement) in a building designed by architect Christian de Portzamparc, whose architecture was inspired by the former headquarters of ''The New York Times''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Les immeubles du Monde |trans-title=The buildings of Le Monde |url=http://presse-paris.univ-paris1.fr/spip.php?article4 |publisher=Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
In 1989, due to competition from ''Libération'' and the revival of ''Le Figaro'', circulation had declined by {{formatnum:40000}} copies over a ten-year period.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=159}}
In February 1990, a triumvirate was appointed to succeed André Fontaine. Composed of Daniel Vernet (managing director), {{Interlanguage link|Bruno Frappat|fr}} (editor-in-chief), and Martin Desprez (managing director for administration), it was ultimately replaced, following internal rivalries, by Bruno Frappat, who remained head of the newsroom, and economist Jacques Lesourne. Lesourne was elected director of publication of ''Le Monde'' on 8 January 1991, becoming the first non-journalist to hold the position.{{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=468}}
=== 1994–2003: Colombani's expansion strategy === In 1994, ''Le Monde'' changed its legal status from a limited liability company (''société à responsabilité limitée'', SARL) to a public limited company (''société anonyme'', SA) with an executive board and a supervisory board. Following the resignation of Jacques Lesourne, who had been unable to halt the decline in circulation and advertising revenue, Jean-Marie Colombani, editor-in-chief, was elected director of publication of the newspaper in March 1994,{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=159}} first by the journalists' association and then by the newspaper's shareholders. In April 1994, he appointed Noël-Jean Bergeroux as editor-in-chief. In 1995, Colombani launched a new format for the daily newspaper.
During the 1995 French presidential election, Colombani's hostility toward Jacques Chirac following the Ouvéa cave hostage taking, the anti-Mitterrand stance of Edwy Plenel,<ref group="Note">His 1994 book ''Un temps de chien'' recalls the Rainbow Warrior affair, the Irish of Vincennes affair, the Carrefour du développement affair, the Urba affair, the {{Interlanguage link|Pechiney-Triangle affair|fr|Affaire Pechiney-Triangle}}, among others.</ref> and the globalist outlook associated with Édouard Balladur and promoted by Alain Minc, chairman of the supervisory board of SA Le Monde, led the newspaper to be accused by its peers of "Balladurism."<ref>{{cite news |title='Hate-filled' book rocks Le Monde |trans-title='Hate-filled' book rocks Le Monde |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 February 2003 |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/feb/26/pressandpublishing.france |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=English }}</ref> ''Le Canard enchaîné'' headlined on 18 January 1995, "Le Monde Balladurized? It's not a Minc affair," a controversy that unsettled part of its readership.<ref>{{cite book |author=Patrick Eveno |title=La presse quotidienne nationale : Fin de partie ou renouveau ? |publisher=Vuibert |year=2008 |isbn= |page=69 |language=French |trans-title=The national daily press: End of the road or renewal?}}</ref>
After an initial recapitalization of 295 million francs in 1995, ''Le Monde'' launched its presence on the Internet in 1996. LeMonde.fr offered online feature packages, a graphical version of the front page from 1:00 p.m., the full newspaper before 5:00 p.m., current news in cooperation with the Agence France-Presse, and sections devoted to the stock market, books, multimedia, and sports. Two years later, full online access to the newspaper cost five French francs (equivalent to €0.76), compared with 7.50 francs (€1.15) for the printed edition.<ref>{{cite web |title=L'ebook a 40 ans > 1995 > La presse imprimée se met en ligne |trans-title=The e-book turns 40 > 1995 > The printed press goes online |website=Actualitté |url=http://www.actualitte.com/reportages/l-ebook-a-40-ans-1995-la-presse-imprimee-se-met-en-ligne-1475.htm |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> Some articles from the weekly print supplement ''Télévision-Radio-Multimédia'' were made freely available online in a multimedia section later renamed "New Technologies."
Re-elected in 2000, Jean-Marie Colombani undertook the construction of a media group, the Groupe Le Monde. After an unsuccessful attempt to acquire ''L'Express'' from Vivendi Universal Publishing (formerly Havas) in 1997,<ref>{{cite news |author=Fabrice Tassel |title=« Le Monde » convoite « l'Express ». Le quotidien a entamé des négociations pour racheter l'hebdo |trans-title="Le Monde" sets its sights on "L'Express". The daily has begun negotiations to buy the weekly |newspaper=Libération |date=21 June 1997 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/medias/1997/06/21/le-monde-convoite-l-express-le-quotidien-a-entame-des-negociations-pour-racheter-l-hebdo_209004/ |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> he took control of the {{Interlanguage link|Les Journaux du Midi|fr}} group (formerly Midi Libre SA) in 1999 and acquired a 30% stake in the "Publications de la vie catholique" in 2003, notably including ''La Vie'', ''Courrier International'', and ''Télérama'', whose real estate assets were later sold.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=273}} In 2002 and 2003, more than €60 million were raised through bonds redeemable in shares, increasing an already high level of long-term debt.{{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=679}}<ref>{{cite news |author=Eric Fottorino |title=Écrire une nouvelle page |trans-title=Writing a new page |newspaper=Le Monde |date=3 November 2010 |url=https://lemonde.fr/idees/article/2010/11/03/ecrire-une-nouvelle-page_1434742_3232.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Olivier Costemalle |title=Pour 2003, Colombani voit un « Monde » équilibré |trans-title=For 2003, Colombani foresees a "balanced" Le Monde |newspaper=Libération |date=8 January 2003 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/medias/2003/01/08/pour-2003-colombani-voit-un-monde-equilibre_427102/ |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
=== 2003–2008: Crisis of the newspaper and the executive board === {{main|La Face cachée du Monde}}
In 2003, a series of books and academic works criticized the neutrality of the newspaper and targeted the three leading figures of ''Le Monde'': Jean-Marie Colombani, Edwy Plenel, and Alain Minc. In the journal ''Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales'', sociologist {{Interlanguage link|Patrick Champagne|fr}}, associated with the Bourdieusian school, analyzed the evolution of the daily newspaper and the influence of Jean-Marie Colombani in an article entitled "Le médiateur entre deux mondes." These criticisms escalated into accusations with the publication of the essay ''La Face cachée du « Monde »''. In February 2003, the book by Pierre Péan and {{Interlanguage link|Philippe Cohen|fr}} argued, among other points, that the management team had deliberately shifted toward a logic of profitability and sales at the expense of journalistic ethics.<ref name="Fottorino-2012">{{cite book |last=Fottorino|first=Éric|title=Mon tour du Monde|publisher=Éditions Gallimard|year=2012|isbn=978-2-07-013419-9|place=Paris|language=fr|trans-title=My Tour of the World|ref=none}}</ref>
The authors also denounced the monthly salary of the newspaper's editor-in-chief (€26,000 per month), despite an estimated group loss of €25 million for the 2003 financial year (with consolidated revenue of €460 million, the year of acquisition of the ''La Vie catholique'' group). According to the book, the original editorial line had been altered to serve the power objectives of a small affiliated group, involving collusion with economic elites. Alleged disregard for raison d'État was also central to the critique. Other commentators accused the newspaper of editorial bias, claiming that it actively campaigned for Lionel Jospin during the 2002 French presidential election.<ref>{{cite news |title=French daily Le Monde under fire |trans-title=French daily Le Monde under fire |publisher=BBC News |date=26 February 2003 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2800343.stm |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=English }}</ref>
A highly publicized defamation lawsuit brought by the group<ref>{{cite web |author=Henri Maler |title=« Face cachée » : Le Monde réclame un million d'euros |trans-title="Hidden face": Le Monde claims one million euros |website=Acrimed |date=5 April 2003 |url=http://www.acrimed.org/article1021.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Catherine Mallaval |last2=Olivier Costemalle |date=4 April 2003 |title=« Le Monde » attaque fort |trans-title="Le Monde" strikes back forcefully |url=https://www.liberation.fr/futurs/2003/04/04/le-monde-attaque-fort_460585/ |access-date=16 December 2025 |newspaper=Libération |language=French}}</ref> was ultimately resolved through mediation by Guy Canivet, First President of the Court of Cassation, in June 2004, thereby avoiding a trial.<ref>{{cite web |author=Amaury de Rochegonde |title=Le procès de La face cachée du Monde n'aura pas lieu |trans-title=The trial over The Hidden Face of Le Monde will not take place |website=Radio France Internationale |date=14 June 2004 |url=http://www1.rfi.fr/actufr/articles/054/article_28668.asp |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Catherine Mallaval |last2=Olivier Costemalle |date=7 June 2004 |title=Le procès contre « la Face cachée du Monde » n'aura pas lieu |trans-title=The trial against "The Hidden Face of Le Monde" will not take place |url=https://www.liberation.fr/medias/2004/06/07/le-proces-contre-la-face-cachee-du-monde-n-aura-pas-lieu_482107/ |access-date=16 December 2025 |newspaper=Libération |language=French}}</ref>
This mediation was criticized by the media watchdog group Acrimed as an attempt to stifle debate.<ref>{{cite web |author=Henri Maler |title=Le Monde contre La face cachée : fin de partie ? |trans-title=Le Monde versus The Hidden Face: end of the game? |website=Acrimed |date=8 June 2004 |url=http://www.acrimed.org/article1631.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
{{Interlanguage link|Alain Rollat|fr}}, a journalist at ''Le Monde'' from 1977 to 2001, also sharply criticized what he viewed as managerial failings under Jean-Marie Colombani, whom he considered chiefly responsible for the growing influence of financial interests over the so-called newspaper of record. The publication of his testimony was largely ignored by his former colleagues.{{Sfn|Rollat|2003}}
Daniel Schneidermann, then an employee of ''Le Monde'', criticized the newspaper's leadership in his book ''Le Cauchemar médiatique'', arguing that management failed to respond substantively to the arguments made in ''La Face cachée du « Monde »''. He was dismissed in October 2003 for "real and serious cause," with management claiming that a passage in his book was damaging to the company. Schneidermann sued the newspaper before the labour courts in Paris and won in May 2005, a decision upheld on appeal in March 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=Daniel Schneidermann, deux fois en appel : un procès gagné, l'autre pas |trans-title=Daniel Schneidermann, twice on appeal: one case won, the other not |website=Acrimed |date=25 May 2007 |url=http://www.acrimed.org/article2633.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
Another investigative book, published the following year by Patrick de Saint-Exupéry on the Rwandan genocide, contributed, according to Éric Fottorino, to unease among journalists at ''Le Monde'', as the newspaper had in 1994 endorsed what he later described as an erroneous narrative of a "double genocide" that exonerated French diplomacy.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=236-237}}
On 29 November 2004, Edwy Plenel resigned as editor-in-chief<ref>{{cite news |title=Edwy Plenel démissionne du « Monde » |trans-title=Edwy Plenel resigns from Le Monde |newspaper=La Croix |date=29 November 2004 |url=http://www.la-croix.com/Culture/Actualite/Edwy-Plenel-demissionne-du-Monde-_NG_-2004-11-29-506678 |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref> and left the newspaper entirely in September 2005. Colombani appointed {{Interlanguage link|Patrick Jarreau|fr}} as interim editor, recalling him from Washington.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=283}}
In response to the crisis, ''Le Monde'' accepted a capital increase by the Lagardère Group and published a new format on 7 November 2005, prepared by Éric Fottorino and his think tank "Vivaldi."{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=324-326}} According to Fottorino, the overhaul of the newspaper's structure led to a sustained rise in reader satisfaction, exceeding 80 percent.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=324-326}}
Tensions surrounding Lagardère's role intensified. In September 2005, after 24 years of partnership with the RTL program ''Le Grand Jury'', the newspaper was replaced by ''Le Figaro'', following Lagardère's capital increase and its ownership of rival radio station Europe 1.<ref>{{cite news |author=Philippe Cohen |title=Le Figaro: 1 – Le Monde : 0 |trans-title=Le Figaro: 1 – Le Monde: 0 |newspaper=Marianne |date=27 August 2005 |url=https://www.marianne.net/le-Figaro-1-le-Monde-0_a111602.html |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
On 3 May 2007, Colombani publicly called for a vote for Ségolène Royal.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Le Monde appelle à voter pour Ségolène Royal|url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/politique/elections-2007/20070503.OBS5461/le-monde-appelle-a-voter-pour-segolene-royal.html|website=Le Nouvel Obs|date=2007-05-04|access-date=2026-01-31|language=fr|trans-title=Le Monde calls for a vote for Ségolène Royal}}</ref> Three weeks later, on 22 May 2007, the journalists' association of ''Le Monde'' refused to grant him a third term as head of the executive board. Subsequent leadership changes culminated in a collective resignation in December 2007, followed by Éric Fottorino's appointment as president of the executive board in January 2008.
In January 2008, the newspaper was ordered by a Barcelona court to pay €300,000 in damages for defamation in an article concerning alleged doping practices at FC Barcelona.<ref>{{cite news |title=Le Monde doit verser 300 000 euros au FC Barcelone |trans-title=Le Monde must pay 300,000 euros to FC Barcelona |newspaper=20 Minutes |date=15 January 2008 |url=https://www.20minutes.fr/article/206346/Sport-Le-Monde-doit-verser-300-000-euros-au-FC-Barcelone.php |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
The daily newspaper lost €15 million in 2007 alone, with circulation down 10 percent over four years and advertising revenue down 40 percent.{{Sfn|Fottorino|2012|p=394}} Facing continued debt, the group undertook restructuring measures in 2008, including the sale of several subsidiaries.
=== 2009–2018: the Bergé–Pigasse–Niel trio === In May 2009, Éric Fottorino criticized Nicolas Sarkozy in an editorial for what he described as the president's "boastfulness and frenzy," triggering a crisis with shareholders. Billionaire Vincent Bolloré, a friend of the head of state, announced that he would stop printing his free daily ''Direct Matin'' on ''Le Monde'' printing presses. ''Le Journal du Dimanche'', owned by billionaire Arnaud Lagardère, another close associate of Sarkozy, announced that it would change printers. Finally, ''Les Échos'', owned by billionaire Bernard Arnault, also a personal friend of the president, terminated its contract with the printing plant owned by ''Le Monde''. According to Éric Fottorino, "power was trying to suffocate us through industrial means."
During the same period, an investigation published by ''Le Monde'' highlighted the central role of the bank BNP Paribas in French crony capitalism, repeatedly citing its CEO, Michel Pébereau. This episode led BNP Paribas, despite being ''Le Monde'''s long-standing bank, to refuse to assist the newspaper while it was in severe financial difficulty. Fottorino later reflected that it was probably ill-timed, while negotiating the newspaper's future, to antagonize someone who held part of the solution, asking whether displeasing powerful actors condemned the paper to decline, while concluding that it was too late to turn back.<ref name="LeMondeDiplo_july2012">{{cite journal |author=Serge Halimi |date=July 2012 |title=Vingt années qui ont changé « Le Monde » |trans-title=Twenty years that changed "Le Monde" |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |language=French |pages=16}}</ref>
In June 2010, five potential buyers were presented: ''Le Nouvel Observateur'', ''El País'', the Italian publishing group that produces ''L'Espresso'', the Swiss group Ringier, and a trio formed by Pierre Bergé (entrepreneur and owner of ''Têtu''), Matthieu Pigasse (businessman, owner and president of ''Les Inrockuptibles''), and Xavier Niel (founder of Free).<ref>{{cite news |author=Delphine Denuit |title=Le Monde engage un « tournant historique » |trans-title=Le Monde embarks on a "historic turning point" |newspaper=Le Figaro |date=3 June 2010 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/2010/06/03/04002-20100603ARTFIG00766-le-monde-engage-un-tournant-historique.php |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
This bid prompted a meeting between President Nicolas Sarkozy and Éric Fottorino on 9 June 2010. The head of state warned that if the Bergé–Pigasse–Niel option were chosen, the state would forgo contributing €20 million to rescue the newspaper's printing operations.<ref>{{cite news |date=11 June 2010 |title=Intervention du président Sarkozy dans la reprise |trans-title=President Sarkozy's intervention in the takeover |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Jean-Luc Porquet |date=16 June 2010 |title=Bientôt, la fin d'un Monde |trans-title=Soon, the end of a "Monde" |newspaper=Le Canard enchaîné |pages=1 |language=French}}</ref>
At the end of June, the Bergé–Pigasse–Niel offer was overwhelmingly supported by employee shareholders. Orange and ''Le Nouvel Observateur'' withdrew their bids, and the choice was validated by a vote of the supervisory board on 28 June 2010 (11 votes in favor and 9 abstentions).<ref>{{cite news |author=Frédérique Roussel |title=110 millions pour refaire « le Monde » |trans-title=110 million euros to remake "Le Monde" |newspaper=Libération |date=29 June 2010 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/medias/2010/06/29/110-millions-pour-refaire-le-monde_662448/ |access-date=16 December 2025 |language=French }}</ref>
On 2 November 2010, the acquisition of the newspaper by the trio was formally approved. The Le Monde Group then came under the control of the holding company ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Monde libre|fr|Le Monde libre (entreprise)}}'', which held 64 percent of the capital and was owned by the three businessmen along with the Spanish media group Prisa.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le groupe Le Monde |trans-title=The Le Monde Group |url=http://www.sdllemonde.fr/le-groupe-le-monde |access-date=16 December 2025 |website=sdllemonde.fr |language=French |archive-date=26 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131126190423/http://sdllemonde.fr/le-groupe-le-monde |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The circumstances surrounding the sale were criticized in an article published in June 2011 by ''Le Monde diplomatique'', entitled ''Comment « Le Monde » fut vendu''.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Pierre Rimbert |date=June 2011 |title=Comment « Le Monde » fut vendu |trans-title=How "Le Monde" was sold |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |language=French}}</ref>
On 14 September 2010, ''Le Monde'' announced that it had filed a complaint against unknown persons for violation of the protection of journalists' sources, after French intelligence services were used by the executive branch to identify the source of a newsroom journalist. Bernard Squarcini, head of the Direction centrale du renseignement intérieur (DCRI), acknowledged that he had ordered an intelligence inquiry into leaks related to the Bettencourt affair, an action widely viewed as infringing press freedom.
On 15 December 2010, Éric Fottorino was dismissed from his positions as chairman of the management board and publisher of ''Le Monde'' because of disagreements with shareholders. He was replaced as chairman by Louis Dreyfus, and on 7 February 2011, Érik Izraelewicz was appointed editor-in-chief of the group, a choice approved by journalists with 74 percent of the vote. Izraelewicz died suddenly on 27 November 2012, at the age of 58, after a heart attack at the newspaper's headquarters.
After an interim period led by Alain Frachon, Natalie Nougayrède was proposed on 1 March 2013 by the three main shareholders and became editor of ''Le Monde'' following a positive vote by the newsroom. Her mandate, alongside Louis Dreyfus, was to place the digital transformation at the center of their leadership.<ref>{{cite news |date=6 March 2013 |title=Natalie Nougayrède officiellement à la tête du Monde |trans-title=Natalie Nougayrède officially at the head of Le Monde |newspaper=Le Point |language=French}}</ref>
This quickly led to tensions with the newsroom. In February 2014, protests erupted following the announcement of a mobility plan that involved shifting around fifty positions toward digital operations and eliminating several sections. On 6 May 2014, seven members of the editorial management resigned, citing major dysfunctions and a lack of trust and communication with editorial leadership. Lacking support from shareholders, Natalie Nougayrède resigned on 14 May 2014, stating that she no longer had the means to fully and calmly perform her duties.
A new organizational structure was introduced on 28 May 2014. {{Interlanguage link|Gilles van Kote|fr}} was appointed interim director by the Bergé–Niel–Pigasse trio, pending a vote by the journalists' association, while Jérôme Fenoglio became head of the editorial staff.
On 6 October 2014, ''Le Monde'' launched a new layout described by its chief executive Louis Dreyfus as clearer and more open.
On 30 June 2015, following the resignation of Gilles van Kote and a second vote by the journalists' association, Jérôme Fenoglio became director of the daily newspaper, while {{Interlanguage link|Luc Bronner|fr}} was appointed editor-in-chief.
The fact-checking section ''{{Interlanguage link|Les Décodeurs|fr}}'' was created on 10 March 2014, and on 1 February 2017, its journalists launched a search engine known as Décodex.
Following the death of Pierre Bergé in September 2017, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse each bought half of his shares in Le Monde libre, which then held 72.5 percent of the Le Monde Group.<ref>{{cite news |author=Nicolas Madelaine |date=9 September 2017 |title=Le Monde : Xavier Niel et Matthieu Pigasse rachètent les parts de Pierre Bergé |trans-title=Le Monde: Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse buy Pierre Bergé's shares |newspaper=Les Échos |language=French |issn=0153-4831}}</ref>
On 25 October 2018, Matthieu Pigasse sold 49 percent of his stake in the company Le Nouveau Monde to Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, owner of {{Interlanguage link|Czech Media Invest|fr}} and the weekly ''Marianne'', as well as part of the magazine division of the Lagardère Group. This move raised concerns within the newspaper's independence pole, which described the operation as abrupt, and generated tensions with Xavier Niel.
=== 2019–2020 === In March 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded the publishing company a grant of {{US$|2,126,790}} over three years for ''Le Monde Afrique'',<ref name="Gates-2019" /><ref name="Mediapart-2019-10-08">{{cite web |author=Laurent Mauduit |title=La Fondation Gates donne 1,9 million d'euros au « Monde » |trans-title=The Gates Foundation gives €1.9 million to "Le Monde" |website=Mediapart |date=8 October 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/international/081019/la-fondation-gates-donne-19-million-d-euros-au-monde }}</ref> in order to support its coverage of development and global health in Africa and to inform and engage audiences through high-quality journalism.<ref name="Gates-2019">{{cite web |title=Audience engagement and analysis program |trans-title=Audience engagement and analysis program |website=gatesfoundation.org |date=March 2019 |language=English |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.gatesfoundation.org/How-We-Work/Quick-Links/Grants-Database/Grants/2019/03/OPP1210145 }}</ref>
The foundation was already a partner of ''Le Monde Afrique'', having supported the project since its creation in 2015, and had previously awarded grants in this context.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 September 2017 |title=Bill Gates : « Rien ne compense la générosité défaillante d'un pays riche » |trans-title=Bill Gates: "Nothing compensates for the failing generosity of a wealthy country" |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=15 January 2019 |title=Qu'est-ce que « Le Monde Afrique » ? |trans-title=What is "Le Monde Afrique"? |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=8 April 2019 |title=Les milliardaires au chevet de la presse |trans-title=Billionaires at the bedside of the press |newspaper=La Croix |language=French}}</ref>
In July of the same year, Matthieu Pigasse and Daniel Křetínský negotiated the purchase of the shares held by the Spanish group Prisa, which owned 20 percent of the Le Monde Group, triggering renewed tensions with Xavier Niel. Discussions also raised the possibility that Křetínský could take control of the holding company Le Nouveau Monde. These developments caused concern within the newsroom, which called for the preservation of editorial independence in a collective op-ed published in ''Le Monde''.<ref>{{cite news |author=La rédaction du « Monde » |date=10 September 2019 |title=Nous, journalistes du "Monde"... |trans-title=We, journalists of "Le Monde"... |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref>
The two main shareholders, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, agreed to sign the approval rights mechanism requested by the newsroom.
Negotiations between Le Nouveau Monde and Prisa ultimately failed, and the approval rights granted the newspaper's independence pole the power to block changes in shareholder control.<ref>{{cite news |author=Fabienne Schmitt |last2=Nicolas Madelaine |date=16 January 2020 |title=Prisa n'a pas réussi à vendre sa participation dans « Le Monde » |trans-title=Prisa failed to sell its stake in "Le Monde" |newspaper=Les Échos |language=French}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=23 September 2019 |title=Le Monde : Matthieu Pigasse et Xavier Niel signent le droit d'agrément réclamé par les rédactions |trans-title=Le Monde: Matthieu Pigasse and Xavier Niel sign the approval rights demanded by the newsroom |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref>
At the beginning of 2020, all departments of the Le Monde Group moved into a new headquarters designed by the Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta. The building is located on {{Interlanguage link|Avenue Pierre-Mendès-France|fr}}, in the Paris Rive Gauche district of the 13th arrondissement of Paris, overlooking the railway tracks of Gare d'Austerlitz.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde Headquarters |trans-title=Le Monde Headquarters |website=snohetta.com |date=17 August 2019 |language=English |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://snohetta.com/projects/213-le-monde-headquarters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817092412/https://snohetta.com/projects/213-le-monde-headquarters |archive-date=17 August 2019 }}</ref>
In July 2020, the group announced that it had recorded a net profit of €2.6 million in 2019 on revenue of €302.7 million, driven by strong growth in its digital subscriber base.<ref>{{cite news |date=8 July 2020 |title=Groupe Le Monde : 2019 en croissance et un début 2020 marqué par la crise du Covid-19 |trans-title=Le Monde Group: growth in 2019 and an early 2020 marked by the Covid-19 crisis |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref> For the third consecutive year, the group posted a positive financial result.<ref>{{cite web |title=Groupe Le Monde : +2,6 M€ de résultat net en 2019 |trans-title=Le Monde Group: €2.6 million net profit in 2019 |url=https://www.cbnews.fr/medias/image-groupe-monde-26-meu-resultat-net-2019-53661 |website=CB News |date=9 July 2020 |language=French}}</ref> However, the first half of 2020, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic in France, was expected to reduce group revenue by €18 million, with a 50 percent drop in advertising income.<ref>{{cite news |author=Agence France-Presse |date=8 July 2020 |title=Le groupe Le Monde dans le vert en 2019 mais secoué par le Covid en 2020 |trans-title=Le Monde Group in the black in 2019 but shaken by Covid in 2020 |newspaper=Le Figaro |language=French}}</ref>
According to the magazine ''Marianne'', the newsroom of ''Le Monde'', like other left-leaning newspapers, was divided between two camps described as multiculturalists and republican universalists. The divide was said to focus less on economic and political models, such as class struggle versus social democracy, and more on social issues including feminism, minorities, and Islam.<ref>{{cite web |author=Antoine Menusier |title=Multiculturalistes contre universalistes : de "Libé" au "Monde", fractures dans les rédactions de gauche |trans-title=Multiculturalists versus universalists: from "Libé" to "Le Monde", fractures in left-wing newsrooms |website=Marianne |date=1 November 2020 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.marianne.net/societe/medias/multiculturalistes-contre-universalistes-de-libe-au-monde-fractures-dans-les-redactions-de-gauche }}</ref> The emergence of the #MeToo movement against harassment was described as triggering a major internal crisis at the newspaper, and an article by Zineb Dryef devoted to Assa Traoré also prompted internal criticism. Luc Bronner, then editor-in-chief, rejected accusations that the newspaper was being overly accommodating on these issues.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Menusier |first=Antoine |date=2020-11-01 |title=Multiculturalistes contre universalistes : de "Libé" au "Monde", fractures dans les rédactions de gauche |url=https://www.marianne.net/societe/medias/multiculturalistes-contre-universalistes-de-libe-au-monde-fractures-dans-les-redactions-de-gauche |access-date=2025-12-18 |website=www.marianne.net |language=fr}}</ref>
=== Since 2021 === In April 2021, ''Le Monde'' announced the creation of an endowment fund intended to ensure the group's long-term capital independence.<ref>{{cite web |author=Agence France-Presse |title=Le Monde met en place son indépendance capitalistique |trans-title=Le Monde establishes its capital independence |website=CB News |date=14 April 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.cbnews.fr/medias/image-monde-met-place-son-independance-capitalistique-60328 }}</ref>
thumb|The newspaper's new headquarters in 2021, located at 67–69 Avenue Pierre-Mendès-France.
On 1 January 2022, management announced a 20-cent increase in the newsstand price, citing rising production costs, particularly the price of paper.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le journal « Le Monde » augmente son prix de vente en kiosque |trans-title=The newspaper "Le Monde" increases its newsstand price |website=Le Figaro |date=1 January 2022 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/le-journal-le-monde-augmente-son-prix-de-vente-en-kiosque-20220101 }}</ref>
The daily also faced the departure of its two most prominent cartoonists. Plantu, who had worked for the newspaper since 1 October 1972, ended his career at ''Le Monde'' in March 2021 after 50 years, leaving the front-page space to colleagues from the Cartooning for Peace collective. In January 2021, the newspaper's managing editor {{Interlanguage link|Caroline Monnot|fr}} issued an apology for publishing a cartoon by {{Interlanguage link|Xavier Gorce|fr}} that could be interpreted as minimizing the seriousness of incest and using inappropriate language with regard to victims and transgender people.<ref>{{cite news |author=Caroline Monnot |title=A nos lecteurs |trans-title=To our readers |newspaper=Le Monde |date=19 January 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-et-vous/article/2021/01/19/a-nos-lecteurs_6066802_6065879.html }}</ref> After 18 years of collaboration, Gorce announced his departure from the newspaper, stating that "freedom is not negotiable" and criticizing pressure from social media activists.<ref>{{cite web |author=Clément Pétreault |title=Gorce : « Si les journaux ne résistent pas à la pression des réseaux sociaux... » |trans-title=Gorce: "If newspapers do not resist pressure from social media..." |website=Le Point |date=20 January 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/politique/gorce-si-les-journaux-ne-resistent-pas-a-la-pression-des-reseaux-sociaux-20-01-2021-2410357_20.php }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=#MeTooInceste : le dessinateur du « Monde » Xavier Gorce démissionne après la suppression de sa caricature sur l'inceste |trans-title=#MeTooInceste: Le Monde cartoonist Xavier Gorce resigns after removal of his cartoon on incest |website=France Info |date=20 January 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.francetvinfo.fr/societe/harcelement-sexuel/affaire-olivier-duhamel/metooinceste-le-dessinateur-du-monde-xavier-gorce-sous-le-feu-des-critiques-apres-une-caricature-sur-l-inceste_4265063.html }}</ref>
In September 2022, the newspaper's management decided to remove from publication an opinion column by researcher Paul-Max Morin entitled "Réduire la colonisation en Algérie à une 'histoire d'amour' parachève la droitisation de Macron sur la question mémorielle" following protests from the Élysée Palace.<ref>{{cite news |title=A nos lecteurs |trans-title=To our readers |newspaper=Le Monde |date=2 September 2022 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-et-vous/article/2022/09/02/a-nos-lecteurs_6139981_6065879.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Loris Guémart |title=Algérie : l'Élysée se plaint au « Monde », qui dépublie une tribune |trans-title=Algeria: the Élysée complains to "Le Monde", which removes an opinion piece |website=Arrêt sur images |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/algerie-lelysee-se-plaint-au-monde-qui-depublie-une-tribune }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Jacques Pezet and Elsa de La Roche Saint-André |title=« Le Monde » a-t-il censuré une tribune sur les déclarations de Macron en Algérie ? |trans-title=Did "Le Monde" censor an opinion piece on Macron's statements on Algeria? |website=Libération |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/le-monde-a-t-il-censure-une-tribune-sur-les-declarations-de-macron-en-algerie-20220902_5BWL6TZPBNFI5HFQ4U7OHIQ7BI/ }}</ref> According to the Élysée, the article contained a factual error resulting from a misinterpretation of remarks made by the President of France in Algiers.
In June 2024, the newspaper called on its readers to form a "republican front" against the National Rally in the 2024 French legislative election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Législatives : ce qu'il faut retenir de la journée du vendredi 28 juin |trans-title=Legislative elections: what to remember from Friday, 28 June |website=Les Echos |date=28 June 2024 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lesechos.fr/elections/legislatives/direct-legislatives-2024-le-point-sur-la-situation-ce-vendredi-28-juin-2104459 }}</ref>
In October 2024, the supervisory board was renewed, with Aline Sylla-Walbaum appointed as chair. A former chief of staff to François Fillon, she is employed by Chaumet, owned by Bernard Arnault, and also serves as a board member of Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, a company linked to Xavier Niel, the main shareholder of ''Le Monde'' and Arnault's son-in-law. She was joined on the board by Cécile Cabanis, also employed by Xavier Niel through Unibail.<ref>{{cite news |date=9 October 2024 |title=Le Monde des affaires |trans-title=The world of business |newspaper=Le Canard Enchaîné |language=French}}</ref>
In January 2025, ''Le Monde'' announced its decision to leave the X social network, citing the "intensification of activism" by Elon Musk and the "growing toxicity of exchanges" on the platform.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le journal Le Monde quitte à son tour le réseau social X |trans-title=The newspaper Le Monde in turn leaves the social network X |website=Le Figaro |date=20 January 2025 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/le-journal-le-monde-quitte-a-son-tour-le-reseau-social-x-20250120 }}</ref> The newsroom emphasized that this decision, though difficult, was part of an effort to preserve editorial independence and to avoid contributing to an environment harmful to public debate.<ref>{{cite news |date=20 January 2025 |title=Le journal Le Monde quitte à son tour le réseau social X |trans-title=The newspaper Le Monde in turn leaves the social network X |newspaper=Le Figaro |language=French}}</ref>
== Publications == === The daily newspaper ''Le Monde'' === ''Le Monde'' is distinctive in that it is dated one day ahead of its actual publication date. In France, it is the only daily newspaper, together with ''Présent'', that intended to retain this formula as of 2013. Its issue of the day is thus available from around 1:00 p.m. in Paris, Lyon, and Toulouse<ref>{{cite news |title=La parution en soirée du Monde étendue à Toulouse |trans-title=Le Monde's evening edition extended to Toulouse |agency=Agence France-Presse |newspaper=Direct Matin |date=25 October 2012 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.directmatin.fr/medias/2012-10-25/la-parution-en-soiree-du-monde-etendue-toulouse-190565 }}</ref> (as well as in printable digital format), and in the evening in a few major French cities, and everywhere else the following day, including internationally.
For example, an edition printed on Friday the 1st is dated Saturday the 2nd.
Although it is still commonly referred to as an "evening daily", ''Le Monde'' has in practice become a midday newspaper. Editorial deadlines take place in the morning at {{nobr|10:30 a.m.}}, making it possible to include news that breaks overnight or early in the morning, unlike most competing newspapers, which close their editions during the night.
{{As of|2025|12|18}}, the newspaper is structured as follows: * '''Front page''': consisting of an opinion column, very often accompanied by a current-affairs photograph; the editorial of the day in the center; a cartoon by Plantu at the bottom of the page; and other short items developed later in the paper; * '''Page two''': notably featuring the daily press cartoon by Xavier Gorce; * '''Page three''': named for its position, this page is devoted to an in-depth investigation of a specific topic, whether linked to recent events or to longer-term investigative reporting. A large space is devoted to images; * '''Planet''': one to two pages devoted to environmental news; * '''International, International & Europe''': four to five pages devoted to international and European news; * '''France''': three to four pages devoted to French news, primarily political; * '''Economy''': two to three pages devoted to economic, financial, and industrial news; * '''Analysis''': three to four pages reserved for debates (op-eds, opinion columns, public reactions, open letters, etc.) or for in-depth analysis of a current issue; * '''Culture''': two to three pages devoted to French and international cultural news. The Wednesday issue focuses on new film releases; * '''& You''': one page devoted to practical, everyday life; * '''Obituaries''': death notices, tributes, marriages, and births; * '''Weather & games''': the weather section has no longer appeared in print since 6 October 2014 following the launch of a new formula; it is available online on the newspaper's website; * '''Final page''' (generally page 28): devoted to readers' letters and an opinion column by a public figure.
Each issue of ''Le Monde'' includes a counter-investigation, which may concern any section of the newspaper.
While the overall structure of the newspaper usually remains almost identical from one day to the next, the editorial staff may devote additional pages to a given topic in response to major news events. For example, during its coverage of the earthquake of March 2011 in Japan, the Planet section occupied nearly ten pages in some issues.
Since 2009, ''Le Monde'' has designated a "Personality of the Year". Recipients have included Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2009 and Julian Assange in 2010.
For just over twenty years (2000–2021), ''Le Monde'' offered subscribers a PDF version of the print newspaper. In spring 2021, it informed subscribers that the PDF version was being discontinued due to fraud and unauthorized content sharing.<ref>{{cite web |author=Jean-Michel De Marchi |title=Le Monde met fin au format PDF de son quotidien papier pour lutter contre le partage de contenus |trans-title=Le Monde ends the PDF format of its print daily to combat content sharing |website=Mind Media |date=17 March 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.mindmedia.fr/medias-audiovisuel/le-monde-met-fin-au-format-pdf-de-son-quotidien-papier-pour-lutter-contre-le-partage-de-contenus/ }}</ref>
=== ''Le Monde.fr'' === thumb|Le Monde logo with ".fr", designed by Pierre Katz in June 2005.
''Le Monde'' has been present on the Internet under its own domain name (lemonde.fr) since 19 December 1995.<ref>{{cite web |author=Claire Hemery |title=Quand la presse française s'emparait du web |trans-title=When the French press embraced the web |website=inaGlobal.fr |date=19 December 2013 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.inaglobal.fr/presse/article/quand-la-presse-francaise-semparait-du-web#intertitre-3 }}</ref>
Almost all of the newspaper's textual content is freely accessible on the website every day in the early afternoon. Articles less than three days old are also freely available, although without the newspaper's photographic and infographic material. Additional sources are made available to readers, including news agency dispatches and blog posts.
Access to the archives is limited for subscribers to the newspaper, who are entitled to consult up to 25 archive articles per month free of charge; beyond that limit, archive access is paid. Since April 2002, it has been possible to subscribe to the paid section of the website, providing access to agency dispatches (AFP, AP, and Reuters), a database of election results updated since 1969, and multimedia content, including nearly one million ''Le Monde'' articles online, corresponding to the complete daily newspaper since 1987.
In addition, since September 2006, ''Le Monde'' has launched a new service, the ''Electronic Newspaper''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Journal Électronique |trans-title=Electronic Newspaper |website=Le Monde |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/je }}</ref> This service makes it possible to read ''Le Monde'' online while benefiting from features specific to digital formats, such as page-flipping, digital zoom, and search functions. In July 2008, and again in March 2012, the website's homepage was completely redesigned.
The electronic edition of the newspaper was first created in 1994. It was developed internally and distributed on electronic networks through an agreement with CompuServe and Edelweb, a French company specializing in online security. The web version was launched on 19 December 1995, 51 years after the first print issue, and was produced by a team of three journalists recruited by {{Interlanguage link|Michel Colonna d'Istria|fr}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Le jour où... « Le Monde » se met au web |trans-title=The day when Le Monde went online |newspaper=Le Monde |date=31 July 2014 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/festival/article/2014/07/31/le-jour-ou-le-monde-se-met-au-web_4465429_4415198.html }}</ref>
Since 1999, the website has been published by the company Le Monde interactif, a majority-owned subsidiary of ''Le Monde'' with a 34% stake held by Lagardère. Le Monde interactif was initially chaired by Alain Giraudo, then by {{Interlanguage link|Bruno Patino|fr}}, following the failure of the Tout.lemonde.fr portal launched in 2000. The CEO of Le Monde interactif was subsequently {{Interlanguage link|Philippe Jannet|fr}}, who was replaced in 2012 by Isabelle André.<ref>{{cite news |author=Xavier Ternisien |title=Les journaux cherchent le moyen de faire payer leur contenu sur Internet |trans-title=Newspapers seek ways to charge for their content on the Internet |newspaper=Le Monde |date=24 March 2009 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/03/24/les-journaux-cherchent-le-moyen-de-faire-payer-leur-contenu-sur-internet_1171946_651865.html }}</ref>
=== Les Décodeurs === ''Les Décodeurs'' is a section of the ''Le Monde'' website, created on 10 March 2014. According to a book by {{Interlanguage link|Rémy Rieffel|fr}} and Jean-Baptiste Legavre, professors of information and communication sciences at Paris II Panthéon-Assas University and at the Institut français de presse, the success of sections such as ''Les Décodeurs'' at ''Le Monde'' or "Désintox" at ''Libération''<ref name="rieffel" /> is the result of "the valorization within newsrooms of fact-checking, intended to control the accuracy of statements made by politicians".<ref name="rieffel">{{cite book |author1=Jean-Baptiste Legavre |author2=Rémy Rieffel |title=Le Web dans les rédactions de presse écrite. Processus, appropriations, résistances |trans-title=The Web in Print Newsrooms: Processes, Appropriations, Resistance |publisher=Éditions L'Harmattan |year=2017 |language=French }}</ref>
It is "a well-deserved success", according to journalist Fidel Navamuel, editor of the website "Les Outils du Web".<ref name="Navamuel">{{cite web |author=Fidel Navamuel |title=Éducation aux médias et à l'information : 5 sites de presse qui font la chasse aux fake news |trans-title=Media and Information Literacy: Five News Sites That Hunt Fake News |website=outilstice.com |date=26 March 2023 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://outilstice.com/2023/03/education-aux-medias-et-a-linformation-5-sites-de-presse-fake-news/ }}</ref> Around ten journalists work in this section, which was formally created in 2014 after operating for three years as a blog.<ref name="Recorbet">{{cite news |author=Solange Recorbet |title=Cinq sites pour vous aider à démasquer les fake news |trans-title=Five Websites to Help You Unmask Fake News |newspaper=Le Progrès |date=8 April 2020 |language=French }}</ref>
The ''Les Décodeurs'' section is funded in particular by Facebook.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cédric Mathiot |title=Est-il vrai que Facebook rémunère « le Monde » et « Libération » pour aider à trier les fake news ? |trans-title=Is It True That Facebook Pays Le Monde and Libération to Help Sort Fake News? |website=Libération |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/2018/01/08/est-il-vrai-que-facebook-remunere-le-monde-et-liberation-pour-aider-a-trier-les-fake-news_1620972/ }}</ref><ref name="Croiset2019">{{cite web |author=Laure Croiset |title=Ce que cache l'intérêt des médias pour le « fact-checking » |trans-title=What Lies Behind Media Interest in Fact-Checking |website=challenges.fr |date=8 February 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.challenges.fr/media/ce-que-cache-l-interet-des-medias-pour-le-fact-checking_641365 }}</ref>
According to Louis Dreyfus, "it is Facebook that enabled us to finance part of the growth of our teams, while respecting the integrity of the content".<ref name="EloïseCohen2019">{{cite web |author=Eloïse Cohen |title=Le Monde et Facebook intensifient leur partenariat |trans-title=Le Monde and Facebook Step Up Their Partnership |website=e-marketing.fr |date=5 September 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.e-marketing.fr/Thematique/media-1093/Breves/Monde-Facebook-intensifient-leur-partenariat-342154.htm }}</ref>
This partnership was strengthened in 2019, with Facebook becoming the newspaper's leading external driver of subscriptions.<ref name="EloïseCohen2019" />
==== Décodex ==== On 1 February 2017, three years after its creation, ''Les Décodeurs'' launched "Décodex", a search engine accessible via its website or through a browser extension. It is presented as "a tool for verifying information intended for teachers (and others)". Décodex relies on a database of hundreds of websites, mainly French but also English, American, and German. Its primary purpose is to help distinguish reliable sources from misleading, conspiratorial, or highly biased websites.<ref>{{cite news |author=Karyl Aït Kaci Ali |title=Décodex : Le Monde lance un outil de lutte contre les « fake news » |trans-title=Décodex: Le Monde Launches a Tool to Fight Fake News |newspaper=CNET |date=3 February 2017 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.cnetfrance.fr/news/decodex-le-monde-lance-un-outil-de-lutte-contre-les-fake-news-39848128.htm }}</ref> It had 1000 websites by the end of 2017 divided into 4 categories: regular disseminators of fake news, occasional disseminators, satirical websites and generally reliable sources.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Owen |first=Laura Hazard |date=November 30, 2017 |title=After a rocky reception, Le Monde’s Décodex is almost a year into fighting intox (fake news) in France |url=https://www.niemanlab.org/2017/11/after-a-rocky-reception-le-mondes-decodex-is-almost-a-year-into-fighting-intox-fake-news-in-france/ |work=Nieman Lab}}</ref>{{Update inline|date=April 2026}}
=== LeMonde.fr blogs === Since the early 2000s, ''lemonde.fr'' allowed its subscribers to publish blogs hosted on the website. On 10 April 2019, the newspaper announced that this service would end on 5 June of the same year.<ref>{{cite web |title=La fin annoncée des blogs abonnés du Monde.fr, la fin du blog paysages sur les blogs leMonde.fr |trans-title=The Announced End of Le Monde.fr Subscriber Blogs, the End of the Paysages Blog on LeMonde.fr Blogs |website=cneffpaysages.blog |date=14 April 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://cneffpaysages.blog/2019/04/14/la-fin-annoncee-des-blogs-abonnees-du-monde-fr-la-fin-du-blog-paysages-sur-les-blogs-lemonde-fr/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde supprime tous les blogs qu'il héberge – Biosphère |trans-title=Le Monde Removes All Blogs It Hosts – Biosphère |date=15 April 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://biosphere.ouvaton.org/blog/le-monde-supprime-tous-les-blogs-quil-heberge/ }}</ref> Posts from the 400 subscriber blogs hosted by ''Le Monde'' were preserved by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, with some blogs also archived by the German National Library.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nouveau départ pour le blog paysages |trans-title=A New Beginning for the Paysages Blog |website=cneffpaysages.blog |date=16 June 2019 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://cneffpaysages.blog/2019/06/16/nouveau-depart-pour-le-blog-paysages/ }}</ref>
=== Smartphone and tablet applications === On 13 November 2008, ''Le Monde'' launched one of the first news applications for smartphones and tablets, initially for the iPhone and iPad. The application was available free of charge via the newly created App Store.<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde lance son application iPhone avec Backelite |trans-title=Le Monde Launches Its iPhone Application with Backelite |website=Wellcom.fr |date=13 November 2008 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://wellcom.fr/presse/blog/le-monde-fr-lance-son-application-iphone-avec-backelite/ |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027232125/http://wellcom.fr/presse/blog/le-monde-fr-lance-son-application-iphone-avec-backelite/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde, l'info en continu |trans-title=Le Monde, Continuous News |website=App Store |date=14 November 2008 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://ios.me/app/294047850/le-monde-l-info-en-continu }}</ref> It was downloaded more than 100,000 times within fifteen days<ref>{{cite web |title=Nouveau succès pour Le Monde : Plus de 100 000 applications iPhone téléchargées |trans-title=New Success for Le Monde: More Than 100,000 iPhone Applications Downloaded |website=wellcom.fr |date=November 2008 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://wellcom.fr/presse/le-monde-interactif/2008/11/nouveau-succes-pour-le-monde-fr-plus-de-100-000-applications-iphone-telechargees/ |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027232906/http://wellcom.fr/presse/le-monde-interactif/2008/11/nouveau-succes-pour-le-monde-fr-plus-de-100-000-applications-iphone-telechargees/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> and 500,000 times within six months.<ref>{{cite web |title=L'application iPhone du Monde.fr téléchargée plus de 500 000 fois ! |trans-title=The Le Monde.fr iPhone Application Downloaded More Than 500,000 Times! |website=wellcom.fr |date=May 2009 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://wellcom.fr/presse/le-monde-interactif/2009/05/l-application-iphone-du-monde-fr-telechargee-plus-de-500-000-fois/ |archive-date=27 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171027232912/http://wellcom.fr/presse/le-monde-interactif/2009/05/l-application-iphone-du-monde-fr-telechargee-plus-de-500-000-fois/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In 2011, the application "Le Monde: l'info en continu" was released on Android.<ref>{{cite web |author=Stéphane Ruscher |title=L'application du journal Le Monde pour smartphone Android |trans-title=The Le Monde Newspaper Application for Android Smartphones |website=clubic.com |date=27 September 2011 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.clubic.com/telecharger-fiche396970-le-monde.html }}</ref>
In 2015, a new freemium application, ''La Matinale du Monde'', became available on the App Store and Google Play.<ref>{{cite web |author=Thierry Wojciak |title=Le Monde, du matin au soir |trans-title=Le Monde, from Morning to Evening |website=CB News |date=11 May 2015 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.cbnews.fr/digital/le-monde-du-matin-au-soir-a1019860 }}</ref>
Since 15 September 2016, ''Le Monde'', along with seven other French newspaper publishers (''Paris Match'', ''Vice'', ''L'Équipe'', Melty, ''Cosmopolitan'', Konbini, and Tastemade), has published daily exclusive content and a distinctive visual experience on Discover, the media section of the Snapchat application.<ref>{{cite news |author=Alexis Delcambre |title=Snapchat lance une offre d'information en français sur Discover |trans-title=Snapchat Launches a French-Language News Offering on Discover |newspaper=Le Monde |date=15 September 2016 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2016/09/15/snapchat-lance-une-offre-d-information-en-francais-sur-discover_4997876_3236.html }}</ref>
=== Supplements, sections, and titles === ''Le Monde'' publishes daily, weekly, and monthly supplements, as well as various occasional special supplements.<ref name="supplements_note" group="Note">For some supplements whose names use an ampersand, ''Le Monde'' adopts a distinctive typographic style, without spaces around the ampersand in the specific part of the supplement title: ''éco&entreprise'', ''science&médecine'', ''culture&idées'', ''sport&forme'', ''argent&patrimoine''. The case of the supplement ''universités & grandes écoles'' is particular: its name is printed on two lines, with a space after the ampersand. Finally, the supplement formerly called ''géo&politique'' was later renamed ''géopolitique''.</ref>
==== Daily ==== * ''Le Monde éco & entreprise'', a daily supplement (since May 2013), published in 8 to 12 pages. Previously a weekly supplement, it appeared with the Tuesday-dated edition of the newspaper. Titled ''Le Monde économie'' until April 2012, it then changed its name to the current one while keeping the same publication day and frequency (except for several weeks during summer and Christmas). This supplement contained feature stories, analyses, and interviews devoted to the economy, markets, and business life. From March 2019, ''Le Monde'' returned to the original format by reintegrating the Economy pages into the main section, marking the end of eight years of development of the supplement with its own front page.<ref>{{cite news |author=Enguérand Renault |title=Le Monde réintègre son cahier éco |trans-title=Le Monde Reintegrates Its Economy Section |newspaper=Le Figaro |date=11 December 2018 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/2018/12/11/20004-20181211ARTFIG00121-le-monde-reintegre-son-cahier-eco.php }}</ref>
==== Weekly ==== * ''Le Monde Science & Médecine'', published as a supplement to the Wednesday-dated edition of the daily (except in August and at Christmas), comprising 8 pages. Until May 2013, the supplement was titled ''Le Monde science&techno'' and appeared with the "Weekend" edition dated Saturday; * ''Le Monde des livres'', founded in 1967 by {{Interlanguage link|Jacqueline Piatier|fr}},<ref>{{cite news |title=Décès de Jacqueline Piatier |trans-title=Death of Jacqueline Piatier |newspaper=Libération |date=23 January 2001 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/medias/2001/01/23/deces-de-jacqueline-piatier_352004 }}</ref> published as a supplement to the Friday-dated edition of the daily (except in August and at Christmas), comprising 8 to 10 pages. It covers publishing news and reviews of major new releases across all genres, from classical literature to graphic novels; * ''Le Monde Idées'' (formerly ''Le Monde culture&idées''), published as a supplement to the Saturday-dated "Weekend" edition of the daily, comprising 8 pages. From March 2019, this supplement was discontinued and replaced by "Ideas" pages integrated into the main section; * ''{{Interlanguage link|M, le magazine du Monde|fr}}'' (formerly ''Le Monde 2'' and ''Le Monde magazine''), published as a supplement to the Saturday-dated edition of the daily. It features lifestyle news, fashion and beauty, design, culture, and related topics.
==== Monthly ==== * ''Le Monde Argent'', focusing on financial news (loans, savings, investments, real estate, borrowing). The supplement became ''Le Monde argent & patrimoine'' in November 2012, with a variable monthly publication date, then adopted its current name from February 2014; * ''Le Monde Université et Grandes Écoles'', analyzing education news for parents, teachers, and students. The supplement took the name ''Le Monde universités & grandes écoles'' in May 2012 and appears as a supplement to the Thursday-dated edition of the daily.
The daily newspaper also publishes more than 30 occasional special supplements each year, including ''Le Monde des vins'', ''Europa'' (in collaboration with non-French newspapers), and supplements devoted to major cultural events (Avignon Festival, Lyon Biennale, etc.).
==== Former supplements ==== * ''Le Monde géopolitique'', a former supplement to the Thursday-dated edition of the daily, usually comprising 8 pages. Initially titled ''Le Monde géo&politique'', it was first published with the Sunday-dated edition and, from May 2013, with the Thursday-dated edition, along with a name change in September 2013. Publication of the supplement ceased with the issue dated 19 December 2013. Four geopolitics pages were reintegrated into the main section of the Sunday–Monday-dated edition of ''Le Monde'' from late 2015; * ''Le Monde Sports'' (formerly ''Le Monde sport&forme''), published as a supplement to the Saturday-dated "Weekend" edition and comprising 8 pages. Publication of this supplement permanently ceased on 18 March 2017, with two sports pages reintegrated into the main section of the Saturday-dated issue; * ''Le Monde télévisions'', published as a supplement to the Sunday-dated edition of the daily, comprising 28 or 32 pages. It covered news across all screens (television and web), as well as a selection of television and radio programs for the coming week. From 6 October 2014, this supplement was discontinued in favor of a daily page in the main section of the newspaper and three pages in the Sunday–Monday-dated edition.
==== Anthologies and selections ==== The most significant articles published in ''Le Monde'' and its supplements are also collected and published in various formats: * ''Le Monde Sélection hebdomadaire'' (since 1948), dated Saturday, a 12-page publication featuring the best articles from the previous week, sold exclusively by subscription; * ''Le Monde mensuel'', a selection of the best articles from the previous month, published from February 2010 to January 2014; * {{Interlanguage link|Dossiers et Documents|fr}}, a monthly publication issued from 1973 to September 2013, aimed at high school and university students, compiling one or two dossiers per issue on economic, historical, political, or social topics.
== Governance ==
=== Shareholding === ''Le Monde'' is a subsidiary of the Groupe Le Monde, which also publishes ''L'Obs'', ''Télérama'', ''Le Monde diplomatique'', ''La Vie'', and ''Courrier international''.
The Le Monde Group is owned: * 75% by the holding company ''Le Monde Libre''; * 25% by the ''Pôle d'Indépendance du Monde'' (Le Monde Independence Trust).
''Le Monde Libre'' is owned by Nouveau Monde (bringing together Matthieu Pigasse and NJJ Holding
(Xavier Niel),<ref>{{cite news |title=Après cinq ans de malentendus, le milliardaire tchèque Daniel Kretinsky revend ses parts dans Le Monde à Xavier Niel |trans-title=After Five Years of Misunderstandings, Czech Billionaire Daniel Kretinsky Sells His Stake in Le Monde to Xavier Niel |newspaper=Le Figaro |date=23 September 2023 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/le-milliardaire-tcheque-daniel-kretinsky-revend-ses-parts-dans-le-monde-a-xavier-niel-20230923 }}</ref> Berly Media (Madison Cox), and the Spanish group PRISA.
The ''Pôle d'Indépendance du Monde'' brings together several organizations, including the Société des rédacteurs du Monde (editors' society), the Société des lecteurs du Monde (readers' society), the Société des employés du Monde (employees' society), the Société des personnels de ''Courrier international'', the staff association of ''L'Obs'', and the association of minority shareholders.
=== Independence === To avoid shareholder pressure on journalists, as can occur in some media outlets,<ref>{{cite news |author=Adrien Franque |title=Bruno Jeudy viré de « Paris Match » pour s'être opposé à la une polémique sur le cardinal Sarah |trans-title=Bruno Jeudy Fired from Paris Match for Opposing a Controversial Front Page on Cardinal Sarah |newspaper=Libération |date=18 August 2022 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.liberation.fr }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Richard Sénéjoux |title=Aux "Échos", une grève des signatures inédite sur fond de soupçons d'ingérence de Bernard Arnault |trans-title=At Les Échos, an Unprecedented Byline Strike amid Suspicions of Interference by Bernard Arnault |magazine=Télérama |date=24 March 2023 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.telerama.fr/debats-reportages/aux-echos-une-greve-des-signatures-inedite-sur-fond-de-soupcons-d-ingerence-de-bernard-arnault-7014832.php }}</ref> ''Le Monde'' has adopted specific governance safeguards.
Under the newspaper's statutes, the appointment of the editor-in-chief must be approved by at least 60% of the journalists on staff.
Since 2017, following amendments to ''Le Monde'' statutes, the ''Pôle d'Indépendance du Monde'' has held a ''golden share'' protecting its statutory rights regardless of its capital share. Minority shareholders therefore have the power to block certain decisions by majority shareholders.
In 2020, Xavier Niel, one of the shareholders of the ''Le Monde Libre'' holding, placed all of his shares into a special endowment fund. This fund is legally inalienable. However, the researcher Julia Cagé, who heads the Société des lecteurs du Monde, has pointed out weaknesses in the governance of the fund, which remains under the control of Xavier Niel and his heirs.<ref>{{cite web |title=Julia Cagé pointe les brèches du fonds de dotation du Monde |trans-title=Julia Cagé Points Out the Weaknesses of Le Monde's Endowment Fund |website=CB News |date=19 September 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.cbnews.fr/medias/image-julia-cage-presidente-societe-lecteurs-du-monde-pointe-breches-du-fonds-dotation-du }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=L'embrouille de Xavier Niel autour du fonds pour l'indépendance de la presse |trans-title=Xavier Niel's Tangle around the Fund for Press Independence |website=Mediapart |date=23 August 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.mediapart.fr/journal/economie/230821/l-embrouille-de-xavier-niel-autour-du-fonds-pour-l-independance-de-la-presse }}</ref>
The growing number of employees directly linked to Xavier Niel on the supervisory board has also raised concerns about independence, especially as some have close ties to the political sphere.<ref name="Canard conseil">{{cite news |date=9 October 2024 |title=Le Monde des affaires |trans-title=The World of Business |newspaper=Le Canard Enchaîné |language=French}}</ref>
=== Finances === Each year, the Le Monde Group shares its financial statements (balance sheet and income statement) with ''Le Monde'' readers.<ref>{{cite news |author1=Louis Dreyfus |author2=Jérôme Fenoglio |title=Groupe Le Monde : des résultats 2021 bénéficiaires et de nouveaux investissements |trans-title=Le Monde Group: Profitable 2021 Results and New Investments |newspaper=Le Monde |date=11 May 2022 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-et-vous/article/2022/05/11/groupe-le-monde-des-resultats-2021-beneficiaires-et-de-nouveaux-investissements_6125623_6065879.html }}</ref> In 2021, the group's revenue amounted to €301 million.
Subscriptions are currently the newspaper's main source of revenue.
The newsroom of ''Le Monde'' employs 520 journalists on permanent contracts,<ref>{{cite news |author=Gilles van Kote |title=« Le Monde » vous répond en direct sur sa ligne éditoriale, la vie de sa rédaction, sa gouvernance |trans-title=Le Monde Answers Live on Its Editorial Line, Newsroom Life, and Governance |newspaper=Le Monde |date=7 June 2023 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-et-vous/live/2023/06/07/le-monde-vous-repond-en-direct-sur-sa-ligne-editoriale-la-vie-de-sa-redaction-sa-gouvernance_6176531_6065879.html }}</ref> not including the staffs of other Le Monde Group publications (''L'Obs'', ''Télérama'', or ''La Vie'').
Journalists belong to a union, the Société des rédacteurs du Monde.<ref>{{cite web |title=Raphaëlle Bacqué, présidente de la Société des Rédacteurs du Monde |trans-title=Raphaëlle Bacqué, President of the Société des Rédacteurs du Monde |website=Fédération syndicale unitaire |date=5 May 2021 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://fsu.fr/raphaelle-bacque-presidente-de-la-societe-des-redacteurs-du-monde/ }}</ref>
''Le Monde'' also benefits from French press subsidies. From 2003 to 2010, it received €2.95 million from the press modernization fund.<ref>{{cite news |title=L'heure des fuites sur les subventions à la presse ? |trans-title=The Time of Leaks on Press Subsidies? |newspaper=Rue89 |date=11 August 2010 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-economie/20100811.RUE7953/l-heure-des-fuites-sur-les-subventions-a-la-presse.html }}</ref> In 2010, it was the second French daily newspaper receiving the most state subsidies, with €17 million in direct aid. In 2011 and 2012, it ranked first, with €16.9 million and €18.6 million respectively.<ref>{{cite news |title=Le Monde et Le Figaro sont les journaux les plus aidés par l'État |trans-title=Le Monde and Le Figaro Are the Newspapers Most Subsidized by the State |newspaper=L'Express |date=12 December 2013 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lexpress.fr/economie/medias/le-monde-et-le-figaro-sont-les-journaux-les-plus-aides-par-l-etat_1307204.html }}</ref>
In 2021, its subsidy amounted to €8 million.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Louise Bernard |author2=Solène Delinger |title=« Le Monde », « Le Parisien »... Quels titres ont le plus bénéficié des aides à la presse en 2021 ? |trans-title=Le Monde, Le Parisien... Which Titles Benefited Most from Press Subsidies in 2021? |website=Europe 1 |date=7 September 2022 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.europe1.fr/medias-tele/le-monde-le-parisien-quels-titres-ont-le-plus-beneficie-des-aides-a-la-presse-en-2021-4132569 }}</ref>
=== Management ===
==== Directors ==== {{Columns-list|colwidth=25em| * Hubert Beuve-Méry (1944–1969) * Jacques Fauvet (1969–1981) * Claude Julien (1981–1982) * André Laurens (1982–1985) * André Fontaine (1985–1991) * Jacques Lesourne (1991–1994) * Jean-Marie Colombani (1994–2007) * Pierre Jeantet (June 2007 – February 2008)<ref>{{cite news |title=Pierre Jeantet élu patron du ''Monde'' par les salariés |trans-title=Pierre Jeantet Elected Head of ''Le Monde'' by Employees |newspaper=Le Figaro |date=14 October 2007 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/20070626.FIG000000194_pierre_jeantet_elu_patron_du_monde_par_les_salaries.html |archive-date=28 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070628212553/http://www.lefigaro.fr/medias/20070626.FIG000000194_pierre_jeantet_elu_patron_du_monde_par_les_salaries.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Éric Fottorino (February 2008 – December 2010) * Érik Izraelewicz (February 2011 – November 2012) * Alain Frachon (acting, November 2012 – March 2013) * Natalie Nougayrède (March 2013 – May 2014) * Gilles van Kote (acting, May 2014 – May 2015) * Jérôme Fenoglio (June 2015 – ) }}
==== Editors-in-chief ==== {{Columns-list|colwidth=25em| * Bruno Frappat (1991–1994) * Noël Bergeroux (1994–1996) * Edwy Plenel (1996–2004) * Gérard Courtois (2004–2006) * Éric Fottorino (2006 – September 2007) * Alain Frachon (1 September 2007 – 17 January 2010) * Sylvie Kauffmann (18 January 2010 – June 2011)<ref>{{cite news |title=Sylvie Kauffmann est nommée directrice de la rédaction du ''Monde'' |trans-title=Sylvie Kauffmann Appointed Editor-in-Chief of ''Le Monde'' |newspaper=Le Monde |date=19 January 2010 |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/actualite-medias/article/2010/01/19/sylvie-kauffmann-est-nommee-directrice-de-la-redaction-du-monde_1293787_3236.html }}</ref> * Érik Izraelewicz (June 2011 – 27 November 2012) * Alain Frachon (acting, 30 November 2012 – March 2013) * Natalie Nougayrède (March 2013 – May 2014) * Jérôme Fenoglio (May 2014 – June 2015) * Luc Bronner (June 2015 – December 2020) * Caroline Monnot (from 1 January 2021) }}
== Circulation and readership == 500px|thumb|right|alt=Total circulation and paid circulation in France|Circulation in copies{{Legend|begin}} {{Legend|black|Total}} {{Legend|gray|Paid circulation in France}} {{Legend|end}}
Data from the OJD and subsequently from the Alliance pour les chiffres de la presse et des médias (ACPM){{Sfn|Eveno|2004|p=33}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde |trans-title=Le Monde |website=ACPM |url=http://www.acpm.fr/Support/le-monde |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>:
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:right; line-height:15px" |- ! Year ! colspan="2" | Paid circulation<br>in France ! Total<br>circulation |- ! 1962 | colspan="2" rowspan="8" | N/A | 182,408 |- ! 1963 | 188,723 |- ! 1964 | 200,457 |- ! 1965 | 230,012 |- ! 1966 | 251,399 |- ! 1967 | 294,722 |- ! 1968 | 354,982 |- ! 1969 | 354,623 |- | colspan="4" | |- ! 1979<ref>{{cite news |date=3 April 2002 |title=« Le Monde » réalise une année historique en 2001 |trans-title=Le Monde Records a Historic Year in 2001 |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref> | 353,915 | {{N/A}} | {{N/A}} |- | colspan="4" | |- ! 1987<ref>{{cite news |date=15 March 1989 |title=La vente en France du « Monde » a progressé de 7,4 % en 1988 |trans-title=Sales of Le Monde in France Increased by 7.4% in 1988 |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref> | 289,893 | {{N/A}} | 362,443 |- ! 1988<ref>{{cite news |date=26 April 1990 |title=La diffusion du « Monde » en France a augmenté de 1,5 % en 1989 |trans-title=Circulation of Le Monde in France Increased by 1.5% in 1989 |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref> | 311,416 | {{N/A}} | 377,489 |- ! 1989 | 316,210 | {{Increase|311416|316210}} | 371,611 |- ! 1990<ref>{{cite news |date=5 April 1991 |title=La diffusion du « Monde » en France a augmenté de 2,13% en 1990 |trans-title=Circulation of Le Monde in France Increased by 2.13% in 1990 |newspaper=Le Monde |language=French}}</ref> | 322,931 | {{Increase|316210|322931}} | 375,285 |- ! 1991<ref>{{cite news |date=2 April 1993 |title=Baisse de la diffusion du « Monde » et de « Libération » en 92 |trans-title=Decline in Circulation of Le Monde and Libération in 1992 |newspaper=Les Échos |language=French}}</ref> | {{N/A}} | {{N/A}} | 368,970 |- ! 1992 | {{N/A}} | {{N/A}} | 357,362 |- ! 1993 | 308,157 | {{N/A}} | 351,706 |- ! 1994 | 302,203 | {{Decrease|308157|302203}} | 354,129 |- ! 1995 | 321,366 | {{Increase|302203|321366}} | 379,089 |- ! 1996 | 325,009 | {{Increase|321366|325009}} | 377,206 |- ! 1997 | 338,640 | {{Increase|325009|338640}} | 382,944 |- ! 1998 | 341,168 | {{Increase|338640|341168}} | {{N/A}} |- ! 1999 | 346,125 | {{Increase|341168|346125}} | 390,840 |- ! 2000 | {{N/A}} | {{N/A}} | 392,772 |- ! 2001 | 358,978 | +3.0% | 405,983 |- ! 2002 | 361,254 | {{Increase|358978|361254}} | 407,085 |- ! 2003 | 345,231 | {{Decrease|361254|345231}} | 389,249 |- ! 2004 | 330,768 | {{Decrease|345231|330768}} | 371,803 |- ! 2005 | 320,704 | −3.0% | 360,610 |- ! 2006 | 312,265 | −2.6% | 350,039 |- ! 2007 | colspan="2" | N/A | 350,039 |- ! 2008 | 300,522 | −5.2% | 340,131 |- ! 2009 | 288,049 | −4.1% | 323,039 |- ! 2010 | 286,348 | −0.6% | 319,022 |- ! 2011 | 292,765 | +2.2% | 325,295 |- ! 2012 | 318,236 | −1.6% | 288,113 |- ! 2013 | 275,310 | −4.4% | 303,432 |- ! 2014 | 273,111 | −0.8% | 298,529 |- ! 2015 | 267,897 | −1.9% | 292,054 |- ! 2016 | 269,584 | +0.6% | 289,555 |- ! 2017 | 284,738 | +5.6% | 301,528 |- ! 2018 | 288,435 | +1.3% | 302,624 |- ! 2019 | 323,565 | {{Increase|288435|323565}} | 336,522 |- ! 2020 | 393,109 | {{Increase|323565|393109}} | 401,732 |- ! 2021 | 445,894 | {{Increase|393109|445894}} | 452,869 |- ! 2022 | 472,767 | {{Increase|445894|472767}} | 479,243 |- ! 2023 | 488,802 | {{Increase|472767|488802}} | 494,500 |- ! 2024 | 528,709 | {{Increase|488802|528709}} | 533,794 |}
According to the OJD, in 2003 just over half of subscribers to the online edition were print subscribers using their digital access rights: * January 2003: 30,597 * December 2003: 44,687
In 2007, the newspaper's readership reached 1,895,000 readers (EPIQ 2006–2007–LNM), 56% of whom belonged to higher socio-professional categories.
In 2020, circulation reached 393,109 copies per issue, an increase of 20.75%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Devant Le Figaro |trans-title=Ahead of Le Figaro |website=ACPM |url=https://www.acpm.fr/Les-chiffres/Diffusion-Presse/Presse-Payante/Presse-Quotidienne-Nationale |language=French |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
Until the 2000s, ''Le Monde'' was the most widely circulated French newspaper abroad, with daily foreign circulation of around 40,000 copies, falling to 26,000 copies in 2012.
As of 31 October 2023, ''Le Monde'' had 592,000 subscribers, including 517,000 digital-only subscribers.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Caroline Bonacossa |date=16 November 2023 |title=" Nous créons un modèle exemplaire " |trans-title=We Are Creating an Exemplary Model |journal=Stratégies |language=French |issue=2195 |pages=8}}</ref>
== Criticism, controversies, and condemnations == === 1970s === In 1976, Michel Legris published ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Monde tel qu'il est|fr|Le Monde tel qu'il est (essai)}}''. According to this former ''Le Monde'' journalist (1956–1972), the newspaper's editorial line had shifted to the left, notably by supporting François Mitterrand, and by adopting a conciliatory stance toward Mao Zedong's China.<ref>{{cite book |last=Legris |first=Michel |title=Le « Monde » tel qu'il est |publisher=Plon |year=1976 |pages=31–32, 35–37 |language=French |trans-title=Le Monde As It Is}}</ref>
The Mitrokhin Archive—documents provided by Vasili Mitrokhin, a former KGB agent—also mention ''Le Monde'' reporting on the Vietnam War, asserting that in July 1975 the newspaper used a "distorted account" of a speech by Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn in the United States in order to "defame him by portraying him as a Nazi sympathizer".<ref name="vanderMade202402">{{cite news |last=van der Made |first=Jan |title=French centre-right magazine L'Express reveals former boss worked for KGB |trans-title=French centre-right magazine L'Express reveals former boss worked for KGB |publisher=Radio France Internationale |date=15 February 2024 |language=English |url=https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20240215-former-boss-of-french-center-right-magazine-l-express-worked-for-the-kgb |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> Although there was no evidence that the account had been introduced by a KGB agent, it was, according to Mitrokhin's book, "entirely consistent with the disinformation the KGB sought to spread in the Western press".<ref name="vanderMade202402" />
In January 1977, ''Le Monde'' published a petition and a statement written by Gabriel Matzneff in support of defendants in a pedophilia case (the {{Interlanguage link|Versailles affair|fr|Affaire de Versailles}}). In May of the same year, it also published an open letter "calling for the revision of certain legislative texts governing relations between adults and minors".<ref>{{cite web |title=1977–2017: comment notre morale sexuelle a basculé sur la pédophilie |trans-title=1977–2017: How Our Sexual Morality Shifted Regarding Pedophilia |website=Le Monde |date=1 July 2017 |language=French |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/07/01/l-enfance-erotisee_5154038_3232.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
=== 1990s === In September 1998, Érik Izraelewicz, then editor-in-chief of ''Le Monde'' and previously responsible for its economic coverage, published an article in the journal ''{{Interlanguage link|Revue des sciences humaines|fr}}''. He explained how social news, which had previously taken precedence at ''Le Monde'', was gradually merged with economic news as the latter gained prominence, and how corporate news progressively came to dominate the economic and social section.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Izraelewicz |first=Érik |title=Le journaliste économique |trans-title=The Economic Journalist |journal=Sciences Humaines |date=September–October 1998 |language=French |url=http://www.scienceshumaines.com/le-journaliste-economique_fr_11793.html#achat_article |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> Serge Halimi, director of ''Le Monde diplomatique'', added ironically in his political essay ''Le Grand Bond en arrière'' (2004; reissued in 2006 and 2012): "Then an 'business' supplement is created (''Le Monde des affaires''). Finally, it will regularly be ''Le Monde Argent''."
In 1999, the newspaper's editorial staff "chose intervention" in Kosovo, as acknowledged by Edwy Plenel. Journalists Pierre Rimbert and Serge Halimi accused the paper of contributing to disinformation by uncritically relaying accusations made by Western governments against Serbia. The newspaper devoted several front pages to Operation Horseshoe (a purported plan for ethnic cleansing by Serbia), which was in fact an invention of the German government intended to justify NATO's entry into the war.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Halimi |first1=Serge |last2=Rimbert |first2=Pierre |title=Le plus gros bobard de la fin du XXe siècle |trans-title=The Biggest Hoax of the Late 20th Century |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |date=1 April 2019 |language=French |url=https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2019/04/HALIMI/59723 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
=== 2000s === In March 2021, ''Le Monde'' was accused by the director of the magazine ''Le Point'', Franz-Olivier Giesbert, of having, two decades earlier under the editorship of Edwy Plenel, "conducted a disgraceful campaign" against Dominique Baudis, who was "falsely accused of sexual crimes before dying shortly afterward of advanced cancer". The accusation referred to an article written by one of Plenel's associates, Jean-Paul Besset, in which "red masses and sadomasochistic parties" were mentioned.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Giesbert |first=Franz-Olivier |title=Edwy Plenel, notre grand tartuffe national |trans-title=Edwy Plenel, Our Great National Tartuffe |journal=Revue des deux mondes |date=25 March 2021 |language=French |url=https://www.revuedesdeuxmondes.fr/edwy-plenel-notre-grand-tartuffe-national/ |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
In the spring of 2003, the false nature of testimonies given before the investigating judge and broadcast on television news against Dominique Baudis—who died eleven years later, in 2014—was quickly established. The emotion generated by the so-called Alègre affair, named after one of its protagonists, was later used in 2010, during the Bettencourt affair, by the government against the former editor-in-chief of ''Le Monde'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Contre Plenel, le gouvernement ressort l'affaire Baudis |trans-title=Against Plenel, the Government Revives the Baudis Affair |website=Arrêt sur images |date=22 June 2010 |language=French |url=http://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/2010-07-09/Contre-Plenel-le-gouvernement-ressort-l-affaire-Baudis-id3175 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> who had since become a co-founder of the investigative journalism website Mediapart.
On 27 September 2003, the mediator of ''Le Monde'' published an assessment of the newspaper's coverage of the affair, recalling that it had "avoided falling into certain traps, in particular, unlike other media outlets, the false testimony of the mythomaniac transvestite Djamel". Although "aware for a long time that Dominique Baudis's name was mentioned in police reports", the newspaper stated that it had "waited, before reporting it, until he agreed to speak and respond in our pages", and that it had consistently "reported on the counterattacks" by the former mayor of Toulouse, "to the point of being the first to reveal his denunciation of a 'political conspiracy'". The newspaper nevertheless expressed regret over "the publication of certain excerpts from investigative records, a report from the outskirts of Toulouse whose content was contradicted by the courts, and the uncorroborated account of the late testimony of a prostitute".<ref>{{cite news |last=Solé |first=Robert |title=Quand la machine s'emballe |trans-title=When the Machine Runs Out of Control |newspaper=Le Monde |date=27 September 2003 |language=French |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2003/09/27/quand-la-machine-s-emballe-par-robert-sole_335720_1819218.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
The report from the outskirts of Toulouse, devoted to the search of a house by gendarmes and signed by Nicolas Fichot and Jean-Paul Besset, was dated 16 June 2003.<ref>{{cite news |title=Affaire Alègre : les enquêteurs reconstituent l'histoire de « la maison du lac de Noé » |trans-title=Alègre Affair: Investigators Reconstruct the History of "the House by Lake Noé" |newspaper=Le Monde |date=16 June 2003 |language=French |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2003/06/16/affaire-alegre-les-enqueteurs-reconstituent-l-histoire-de-la-maison-du-lac-de-noe_324064_1819218.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> This was three weeks after a male prostitute questioned by gendarmes had testified on 22 May 2003, filmed from behind under the pseudonym Djamel, on TF1's 8 p.m. news, about sadomasochistic parties, claiming that there had been "deaths".<ref name="besset2205">{{cite news |last=Besset |first=Jean-Paul |title=Les deux anciennes prostituées toulousaines ont confirmé leurs accusations dans l'affaire Alègre |trans-title=The Two Former Toulouse Prostitutes Confirmed Their Accusations in the Alègre Affair |newspaper=Le Monde |date=23 May 2003 |language=French |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2003/05/23/les-deux-anciennes-prostituees-toulousaines-ont-confirme-leurs-accusations-dans-l-affaire-alegre_321239_1819218.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> Three days later, on 25 May 2003, he claimed on France 2's 8 p.m. news that he had seen, at these gatherings, a young girl who had disappeared in the region.<ref>{{cite news |title=La petite Marion surgit dans le dossier Alègre |trans-title=Little Marion Emerges in the Alègre Case |newspaper=20 Minutes |date=26 May 2003 |language=French |url=https://www.20minutes.fr/france/9789-20030526-france-la-petite-marion-surgit-dans-le-dossier-alegre |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
The role of television and of the regional daily ''La Dépêche du Midi'', which had launched a press campaign starting on 1 April 2003 on the basis of statements by two prostitutes—triggering the media frenzy that affected Dominique Baudis—was later denounced in the television film ''{{Interlanguage link|Notable, donc coupable|fr}}'', broadcast in November 2016.<ref>{{cite news |last=Scalbert |first=Augustin |title=Affaire Alègre : France 2 fait dans la fiction « masochiste » |trans-title=Alègre Affair: France 2 Dabbles in "Masochistic" Fiction |newspaper=Rue89–L'Obs |date=2 November 2016 |language=French |url=https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-medias/20071002.RUE1844/affaire-alegre-france-2-fait-dans-la-fiction-masochiste.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> The film was adapted from the book ''{{Interlanguage link|Le Bûcher de Toulouse|fr}}'' by {{Interlanguage link|Marie-France Etchegoin|fr}} and {{Interlanguage link|Matthieu Aron|fr}}, journalists at ''L'Obs'' and France Info.<ref>{{cite web |title=L'affaire Alègre sur France 2 ce soir |trans-title=The Alègre Affair on France 2 Tonight |website=BFM TV |date=2 October 2007 |language=French |url=https://www.bfmtv.com/police-justice/l-affaire-alegre-sur-france-2-ce-soir_AN-200710020003.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
=== 2010s === In May 2011, irritated by the content of an article in ''Le Monde'' devoted to François Mitterrand and written by historian François Cusset, shareholder Pierre Bergé said that he "regretted" having invested in the daily newspaper.<ref>{{cite web |author=Agence France-Presse |title=Le Monde: Bergé regrette d'avoir investi |trans-title=Le Monde: Bergé Regrets Having Invested |website=Le Figaro |date=24 May 2011 |language=French |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-eco/2011/05/24/97002-20110524FILWWW00666-le-monde-berge-regrette-d-avoir-investi.php |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
In June 2011, the monthly ''Le Monde diplomatique'' published an article by journalist Pierre Rimbert criticizing the gradual erosion of editorial independence at ''Le Monde''. The article notably quoted a statement by billionaire and ''Le Monde'' shareholder Xavier Niel: "When journalists piss me off, I buy a stake in their paper and then they leave me alone".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rimbert |first=Pierre |title=Comment « Le Monde » fut vendu |trans-title=How "Le Monde" Was Sold |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |date=June 2011 |language=French |url=http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2011/06/RIMBERT/20696 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
In July 2012, ''Le Monde diplomatique'' reported remarks by Éric Fottorino, former director of ''Le Monde'', who stated: "Le Monde has joined the ranks of those renowned titles whose fate is now tied to capital and the goodwill of industrial or financial captains". Serge Halimi, director of ''Le Monde diplomatique'', added ironically that "having been an advocate of "happy globalization," Le Monde has become its prey".<ref name="LeMondeDiplo juillet2012">{{cite journal |last=Halimi |first=Serge |date=July 2012 |title=Le Monde, proie de la mondialisation heureuse |trans-title=Le Monde, Prey of Happy Globalization |journal=Le Monde diplomatique |language=French}}</ref>
In ''Un Monde à part'' (2013), Jean-Marie Colombani also criticized the newspaper's 'evolution as a result of its new shareholders, arguing that it was no longer a "journal run by journalists", but rather "engaged on the left simply by virtue of its ownership" (Pierre Bergé, Xavier Niel, Matthieu Pigasse). Because of this same ownership structure, the former editor stated that the newspaper "is no longer independent of economic power".<ref>{{cite web |title=Le Monde: Jean-Marie Colombani passe Edwy Plenel au hachoir |trans-title=Le Monde: Jean-Marie Colombani Takes Edwy Plenel to Task |website=L'Opinion |date=3 June 2013 |language=French |url=https://www.lopinion.fr/3-juin-2013/monde-jean-marie-colombani-passe-edwy-plenel-hachoir-706 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
Journalists at the daily have also been criticized for excessive politicization. {{Interlanguage link|Adam Nossiter|fr}} of ''The New York Times'' described ''Le Monde'' as "frenetic toward Nicolas Sarkozy and lacking distance with respect to the National Front".<ref>{{cite book |last=Gaetner |first=Gilles |title=Les journalistes ne devraient pas dire ça |trans-title=Journalists Should Not Say That |publisher=L'artilleur |date=22 February 2017 |isbn=978-2-8100-0753-0 |language=French |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LSVGDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT32 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
In 2013, the media watchdog association Acrimed accused ''Le Monde'' of participating in the near-unanimous support of French media for European austerity policies,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Magnin |first1=Blaise |last2=Lemaire |first2=Frédéric |title=Les éditocrates au secours d'Angela Merkel |trans-title=Editorialists to the Rescue of Angela Merkel |website=Acrimed |date=13 May 2013 |language=French |url=https://www.acrimed.org/Les-editocrates-au-secours-d-Angela-Merkel |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> of failing to review certain widely successful books critical of French journalism,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Rzepski |first1=Grégory |last2=Maler |first2=Henri |title=Critique de la caricature ou caricature de la critique ? Le Monde a lu LQR |trans-title=Critique of Caricature or Caricature of Criticism? Le Monde Has Read LQR |website=Acrimed |date=25 April 2006 |language=French |url=https://www.acrimed.org/Critique-de-la-caricature-ou-caricature-de-la-critique-Le-Monde-a-lu-LQR |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> and of using its brand image to sell products unrelated to journalism.<ref>{{cite web |last=Roques |first=Thibault |title=Champagne ! À l'approche des fêtes, Le Monde pétille d'idées |trans-title=Champagne! As the Holidays Approach, Le Monde Sparkles with Ideas |website=Acrimed |date=17 December 2013 |language=French |url=https://www.acrimed.org/Champagne-A-l-approche-des-fetes-Le-Monde-petille-d-idees |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
Although the newspaper's management has denied these accusations,<ref>{{cite news |last=Nouchi |first=Franck |title=« Le Monde » roule-t-il pour Macron ? |trans-title=Is "Le Monde" Backing Macron? |newspaper=Le Monde |date=10 March 2017 |language=French |issn=1950-6244 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2017/03/10/le-monde-roule-t-il-pour-macron_5092303_3232.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> the neutrality of ''Le Monde'''s coverage of candidates in the French presidential election has been questioned by Acrimed and Arrêt sur images, which denounced an unacknowledged bias in favor of Emmanuel Macron.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sandrine |first1=Françoise |last2=Roques |first2=Thibault |title=Avant le premier tour, Le Monde n'aurait pas roulé pour Macron ? La complainte du médiateur |trans-title=Before the First Round, Did Le Monde Really Not Back Macron? The Mediator's Lament |newspaper=Acrimed |date=25 April 2017 |language=French |url=http://www.acrimed.org/Avant-le-premier-tour-Le-Monde-n-aurait-pas-roule |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schneidermann |first=Daniel |title=Macron, et les journalistes « pas achetés, mais acquis » |trans-title=Macron, and Journalists "Not Bought, but Won Over" |newspaper=Arrêt sur images |date=31 January 2017 |language=French |url=http://www.arretsurimages.net/chroniques/2017-01-31/Macron-et-les-journalistes-pas-achetes-mais-acquis-id9509 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
In October 2019, the newspaper's website mistakenly announced the death of Bernard Tapie. The article was quickly withdrawn.<ref>{{cite web |last=Aussillou |first=David |title=Le journal Le Monde annonce par erreur la mort de Bernard Tapie |trans-title=Le Monde Newspaper Erroneously Announces the Death of Bernard Tapie |website=France Bleu |date=31 October 2019 |language=French |url=https://www.francebleu.fr/infos/medias-people/le-journal-le-monde-annonce-par-erreur-la-mort-de-bernard-tapie-1572532797 |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
==== 2012 presidential election ==== On 10 April 2012, ''Le Monde'' ran a front-page headline stating that "Marine Le Pen comes out on top among 18–24-year-olds", based on a survey by the {{Interlanguage link|CSA Institute|fr|Institut CSA}} conducted from 12 to 18 March 2012. In that poll, "the subsample of 18–24-year-olds included fewer than 200 people", which ''Le Monde'' did not disclose to its readers, according to the {{Interlanguage link|Commission des sondages|fr}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=La Commission des sondages critique Le Monde pour une étude sur les jeunes |trans-title=The Polling Commission Criticizes Le Monde Over a Study on Young People |newspaper=Challenges |date=16 April 2012 |language=French |url=https://www.challenges.fr/media/20120416.AFP3491/la-commission-des-sondages-critique-le-monde-pour-une-etude-sur-les-jeunes.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref>
Other polling institutes produced different results regarding young voters' intentions. For all other polls during the 2012 French presidential election, ''Le Monde'' partnered with Ipsos. Its poll dated 10 April 2012 did not yet show an increase for Marine Le Pen, who then received 15 percent of voting intentions, compared with 16 percent two weeks earlier.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sondage Ipsos |trans-title=Ipsos Poll |language=French |url=http://www.ipsos.fr/sites/default/files/attachments/rapport_barometre_iv_vague_16.pdf |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> Marine Le Pen ultimately obtained 18 percent of the votes among 18–24-year-olds in the first round,<ref>{{cite news |title=Ces jeunes qui ont rejoint le Front National |trans-title=These Young People Who Joined the National Front |newspaper=Le Nouvel Observateur |date=24 April 2012 |language=French |url=http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/election-presidentielle-2012/20120424.OBS7055/ces-jeunes-qui-ont-rejoint-le-front-national.html |access-date=16 December 2025 }}</ref> almost the same proportion as in the overall electorate (17.90 percent).
== Criticism of ''Les Décodeurs'' == ''Les Décodeurs'' have prompted questions and criticism. Journalist {{Interlanguage link|Vincent Glad|fr}} considers the intentions laudable but highlights the difficulty of expressing an "impartial and transparent" judgment.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Glad |first=Vincent |title=Qui décodexera le Décodex ? De la difficulté de labelliser l'information de qualité |trans-title=Who Will Decode the Décodex? On the Difficulty of Labeling Quality Information |website=Libération (blog) |language=French |date=3 February 2017 |url=https://an-2000.blogs.liberation.fr/2017/02/03/pour-chasser-les-fake-news-le-monde-donne-une-definition-du-journalisme-un-peu-trop-restrictive/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bastié |first=Eugénie |title=« Qui fact-checkera les fact-checkeurs ? » : le Decodex du Monde suscite des critiques |trans-title="Who Will Fact-check the Fact-checkers?" Le Monde's Décodex Draws Criticism |website=Le Figaro |language=French |date=9 February 2017 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/2017/02/09/01016-20170209ARTFIG00142-qui-fact-checkera-les-fact-checkeurs-le-decodex-du-monde-suscite-des-critiques.php |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
Daniel Schneidermann also argued in ''Libération'' that, in this role, ''Le Monde'' is "judge and party." He further fears that the ranking has little effect on readers, as it would mainly be useful to those already convinced, and criticizes its tendency to favor professional media outlets, citing ''Valeurs actuelles'' as an example—then rated green by Décodex (later downgraded to orange).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schneidermann |first=Daniel |title=Decodex décodé |trans-title=Decoding the Décodex |website=Libération |language=French |date=5 February 2017 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2017/02/05/decodex-decode_1546462/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
== 2020s == In 2021, ''Le Monde'' was heavily criticized by scientists and other media outlets after publishing a summer feature perceived as overly sympathetic to Anthroposophy and its pseudoscientific tenets.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Guémart |first=Loris |title=Série sur Steiner : Le Monde sous le feu des critiques (1/2) |trans-title=Series on Steiner: Le Monde Under Fire from Critics (1/2) |website=Arrêt sur images |language=French |date=26 July 2021 |url=https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/serie-sur-steiner-le-monde-sous-le-feu-des-critiques-1-2 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Guémart |first=Loris |title=Le Monde et l'anthroposophie : une question de perspective (2/2) |trans-title=Le Monde and Anthroposophy: A Question of Perspective (2/2) |website=Arrêt sur images |language=French |date=27 July 2021 |url=https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/le-monde-et-lanthroposophie-une-question-de-perspective-2-2 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, an editorial in the newspaper denounced what it described as "last-minute accusations" against host country Qatar.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Coupe du monde 2022 : un miroir des malheurs du monde |trans-title=World Cup 2022: A Mirror of the World's Ills |journal=Le Monde |language=French |date=18 November 2022 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2022/11/18/coupe-du-monde-2022-un-miroir-des-malheurs-du-monde_6150499_3232.html |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> Critics noted that concerns about Qatar and FIFA had been raised since the tournament was awarded more than a decade earlier.
On 2 December 2023, the government of Burkina Faso suspended ''Le Monde'' from "all distribution channels" following the publication of an article on a deadly attack in the north of the country carried out by the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM). The newspaper was reinstated and then suspended again in April 2024, with its correspondent expelled, after publishing an article alleging massacres of civilians by the national army.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=« Le Monde » dénonce l'annonce de sa suspension au Burkina Faso |trans-title=Le Monde Condemns the Announcement of Its Suspension in Burkina Faso |journal=Le Monde |language=French |date=29 April 2024 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2024/04/29/le-monde-denonce-l-annonce-de-sa-suspension-au-burkina-faso_6230664_3212.html |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In January 2024, controversy arose within the newsroom following the appointment of {{Interlanguage link|Rayan Nezzar|fr}}, partner of political editor Ivanne Trippenbach, to the cabinet of Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. Several journalists raised concerns about a potential conflict of interest, prompting the Société des rédacteurs du Monde to refer the matter to the ethics committee of the Le Monde Group. Trippenbach subsequently stepped down from her position and moved to the special correspondents' desk.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andraca |first=Robin |title=Cabinet d'Attal : conflit d'intérêt au "Monde" ? |trans-title=Attal's Cabinet: Conflict of Interest at Le Monde? |website=Arrêt sur images |language=French |date=23 January 2024 |url=https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/cabinet-dattal-conflit-dinteret-au-monde |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In December 2024, an investigation by ''Le Figaro'' journalist Eugénie Bastié alleged internal unease at ''Le Monde'' over its coverage of Israeli policy and the Palestinian question. ''Le Monde'' removed internal displays referenced in the article, stating they "may have shocked" readers.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coutansais-Pervinquière |first=Amaury |title=« Mur de Gaza » : Le Monde retire les images « qui ont pu choquer » après l'enquête du Figaro |trans-title="Gaza Wall": Le Monde Removes Images That "May Have Shocked" After Figaro Investigation |website=Le Figaro |language=French |date=20 December 2024 |url=https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/mur-de-gaza-le-monde-retire-les-images-qui-ont-pu-choquer-apres-l-enquete-du-figaro-20241220 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
A subsequent counter-investigation by ''Off Investigation'' claimed that several assertions in the ''Figaro'' article were false or exaggerated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gaza : quand Le Figaro attaque Le Monde |trans-title=Gaza: When Le Figaro Attacks Le Monde |website=Off Investigation |language=French |date=20 December 2024 |url=https://www.off-investigation.fr/gaza-quand-le-figaro-attaque-le-monde/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> ''Le Monde'' also criticized the use of anonymous sources to undermine a competing outlet widely regarded by some scholars as France's newspaper of record.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Perkovic |first=Ines |title=Newspapers of Record |trans-title=Newspapers of Record |website=McMaster University LibGuides |language=English |url=https://libguides.mcmaster.ca/news/record |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Monde |trans-title=Le Monde |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=English |date=16 March 2025 |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Le-Monde |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
== Judicial convictions == In 2007, ''Le Monde'' was convicted of defamation against the general director of the Grand Théâtre de Genève.<ref>{{Cite journal |title="Le Monde" condamné pour diffamation |trans-title="Le Monde" Convicted of Defamation |journal=Le Monde |language=French |date=26 December 2007 |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2007/12/26/le-monde-condamne-pour-diffamation_993551_3246.html |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In November 2009, ''Le Monde'' and its subsidiary ''Le Monde Interactif'' were each fined €1,500 by the Paris Criminal Court for defaming Socialist MP Julien Dray.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Le Monde condamné pour diffamation |trans-title=Le Monde Convicted of Defamation |journal=Le Figaro |language=French |date=26 November 2009 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2009/11/26/01011-20091126FILWWW00554-le-monde-condamne-pour-diffamation.php |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> The 17th chamber of the Paris Tribunal de grande instance criticized the journalist for using information from Tracfin relating to an investigation into the MP, which gave it "an appearance of credibility," without warning readers of the necessary caution at that stage of the investigation; and for having "failed to exercise due care" by not giving Mr. Dray the opportunity to respond, and by not recalling the "unilateral and non-adversarial" nature of the Tracfin note. Julien Dray ultimately received only a formal warning.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Un simple rappel à la loi pour Julien Dray |trans-title=A Simple Formal Warning for Julien Dray |journal=Le Figaro |language=French |date=16 December 2009 |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/politique/2009/12/16/01002-20091216ARTFIG00712-dray-le-parquet-envisage-un-simple-rappel-a-la-loi-.php |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In 2012, ''Le Monde'' was convicted of infringing the presumption of innocence of Pierre Falcone in relation to an article published in 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Falcone fait condamner Le Monde pour atteinte à la présomption d'innocence |trans-title=Falcone Has Le Monde Convicted for Infringing the Presumption of Innocence |website=Le Point |language=French |date=23 May 2012 |url=https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/falcone-fait-condamner-le-monde-pour-atteinte-a-la-presomption-d-innocence-23-05-2012-1464508_23.php |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In February 2014, ''Le Monde'' was definitively convicted by the Spanish courts and ordered to compensate two football clubs for infringement of the right to honor. The newspaper was ordered to pay €300,000 in damages to Real Madrid and €15,000 to FC Barcelona following an article accusing players of doping without evidence.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Dopage: le journal ''Le Monde'' condamné |trans-title=Doping: The Newspaper ''Le Monde'' Convicted |journal=France Info |language=French |date=24 February 2014 |url=http://sport.francetvinfo.fr/dopage-le-journal-le-monde-condamne-209623 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> In rejecting ''Le Monde'''s appeal in the case involving FC Barcelona, the Supreme Court of Spain ruled in 2011 that "the information published was not truthful, the newspaper having used inconsistent and uncorroborated data, and the journalist having insufficiently verified his sources in a case whose seriousness would have plunged the club into disrepute."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lalande |first=Julien |title=Justice : "Le Monde" condamné définitivement face au Barça |trans-title=Justice: "Le Monde" Definitively Convicted Against Barça |journal=Ozap |language=French |date=15 November 2011 |url=http://www.ozap.com/actu/justice-le-monde-condamne-definitivement-face-au-barca/437715 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
''Le Monde'' was convicted on 7 October 2016, of defamation after attributing to actor John Malkovich a hidden Swiss bank account in a subsidiary of HSBC.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Bon |first1=Gérard |last2=Louet |first2=Sophie |title=Le Monde condamné pour avoir diffamé John Malkovich |trans-title=Le Monde Convicted for Defaming John Malkovich |website=Capital |language=French |date=7 October 2016 |url=https://www.capital.fr/entreprises-marches/le-monde-condamne-pour-avoir-diffame-john-malkovich-1173131 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> This conviction was upheld on 24 May 2017, by the Paris Court of Appeal.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Malkovich cité à tort dans Swissleaks : la condamnation du "Monde" confirmée |trans-title=Malkovich Wrongly Cited in Swissleaks: Conviction of "Le Monde" Upheld |journal=Europe 1 |language=French |date=24 May 2017 |url=http://www.europe1.fr/medias-tele/malkovich-cite-a-tort-dans-swissleaks-la-condamnation-du-monde-confirmee-3340538 |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> Journalists Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme were each fined €1,500, and the publication director €1,000. All three were jointly ordered to pay €10,000 in damages to John Malkovich.
On 17 December 2019, ''Le Monde'' and journalist Adrien Senecat were convicted by the Paris Tribunal de grande instance of public defamation against {{Interlanguage link|Olivier Berruyer|fr}}, founder and editor of the blog ''les-crises.fr'', and ordered to pay €1,500 in damages. On the same day, Samuel Laurent—then head of the ''Les Décodeurs'' section at ''Le Monde''—was convicted for a defamatory tweet against Olivier Berruyer.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Procès Berruyer : le terme « complotiste » jugé non diffamatoire |trans-title=Berruyer Trial: The Term "Conspiracy Theorist" Ruled Not Defamatory |website=Arrêt sur images |language=French |date=19 December 2019 |url=https://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/proces-berruyer-le-terme-complotiste-juge-non-diffamatoire |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
In June 2023, ''Le Monde'' was convicted by the Paris Commercial Court of unfair competition by disparagement against ''{{Interlanguage link|FranceSoir|fr}}'' and ordered to pay €25,000 in damages.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Monde condamné pour dénigrement à l'encontre de Francesoir.fr |trans-title=Le Monde Convicted for Disparagement Against Francesoir.fr |website=Legalis |language=French |date=29 June 2023 |url=https://www.legalis.net/actualite/le-monde-condamne-pour-denigrement-a-lencontre-de-francesoir-fr/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> The commercial judge held that "the criticism by ''Le Monde'' against ''France-Soir'' [...] is likely to cause serious harm to its business model [...] which runs counter to free competition and freedom of trade." ''Le Monde'' appealed the decision, viewing it as "a serious and disproportionate infringement on freedom of criticism." An analysis by ''CheckNews'' of ''Libération'' noted that the procedure was based on commercial law and was applicable only between entities in a potential competitive situation with ''France-Soir'' due to the "distribution of information via their websites."<ref>{{Cite web |last=de La Roche Saint-André |first=Elsa |title=A-t-on le droit de dire que France-Soir « fait de la merde », mais pas que c'est un « blog complotiste » ? |trans-title=Is It Allowed to Say That France-Soir "Produces Garbage," but Not That It Is a "Conspiracy Blog"? |website=Libération (CheckNews) |language=French |date=21 June 2023 |url=https://www.liberation.fr/checknews/a-t-on-le-droit-de-dire-que-france-soir-fait-de-la-merde-mais-pas-que-cest-un-blog-complotiste-20230621_DUKAE6SDIREMNADFKYJD2AU4LA/ |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
== Censorship == * ''Le Monde'' is blocked in China, including its digital edition. * In 2009, an issue of ''Le Monde'' was banned from sale in Morocco because it contained a poll on the popularity of King Mohammed VI.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=« Le Monde » censuré au Maroc |trans-title="Le Monde" Censored in Morocco |journal=Le Parisien |language=French |date=4 August 2009 |url=http://www.leparisien.fr/international/le-monde-censure-au-maroc-04-08-2009-598631.php |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref> * In 2010, an issue of ''Le Monde'' was blocked in Morocco after publishing WikiLeaks revelations deemed defamatory by the Moroccan authorities, concerning corruption in the country and implicating individuals close to the king.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le Maroc censure Le Monde pour reproduction d'informations publiées par WikiLeaks |trans-title=Morocco Censors Le Monde for Reproducing Information Published by WikiLeaks |website=Radio France Internationale |language=French |date=15 December 2010 |url=https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20101215-e-maroc |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
== Iconography == ''Le Monde au Bain Turc (after Ingres)'' is a 1973 lithograph by the Peruvian painter Herman Braun-Vega. In this work, the artist juxtaposes the conviviality of the scene in ''The Turkish Bath'' painted by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres with the harsher reality of current events surrounding the Vietnam War, as reported on the front page of ''Le Monde'' dated 26 January 1973.<ref>{{cite book |language=es |title=Segunda Bienal Americana de Artes Graficas |trans-title=Second American Biennial of Graphic Arts |place=Cali, Colombia |publisher=Cartón de Colombia, Museo La Tertulia |year=1973 |pages=51 |url=https://braunvega.com/picture?/4268/category/821-1973_cali |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |language=es |last=Bernuy G. |first=Jorge |title=La pintura de H. Braun |trans-title=The Painting of H. Braun |journal=El Comercio |place=Lima |date=17 November 1982 |url=https://braunvega.com/picture?/1475/category/press |access-date=16 December 2025}}</ref>
== See also == * Editorial independence * Newspapers in France * Journalism in France * Prix littéraire du Monde
== Notes == {{reflist|group=Note}}
== References == {{reflist|colwidth=25em}}
== Bibliography == * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Chatelain |first=Abel |title=Le Monde et ses lecteurs |trans-title=Le Monde and Its Readers |series=Kiosque |place=Paris |publisher=Armand Colin |year=1962|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Schwœbel |first=Jean |title=La Presse, le pouvoir et l'argent |trans-title=The Press, Power, and Money |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |year=1968 |others=Preface by Paul Ricœur|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Guedj |first=Aimé |author2=Jacques Girault |title=Le Monde... Humanisme, objectivité et Politique |trans-title=Le Monde... Humanism, Objectivity, and Politics |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions sociales |year=1970|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Legris |first=Michel |title=« Le Monde » tel qu'il est |trans-title="Le Monde" as It Is |place=Paris |publisher=Plon |year=1976|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Simonnot |first=Philippe |title=Le Monde et le pouvoir |trans-title=Le Monde and Power |place=Paris |publisher=Les Presses d'aujourd'hui |year=1977|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Thibau |first=Jacques |title=« Le Monde » : histoire d'un journal, un journal dans l'histoire |trans-title="Le Monde": History of a Newspaper, a Newspaper in History |place=Paris |publisher=J.-C. Simoën |year=1978|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Jeanneney |first=Jean-Noël |author2=Jacques Julliard |title=Le Monde de Beuve-Méry ou Le métier d'Alceste |trans-title=The World of Beuve-Méry, or the Craft of Alceste |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions du Seuil |year=1979|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Eveno |first=Patrick |title=« Le Monde » : histoire d'une entreprise de presse, 1944–1995 |trans-title="Le Monde": History of a Press Company, 1944–1995 |place=Paris |publisher=Le Monde |year=1996 |isbn=2-87899-143-5}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Eveno |first=Patrick |title=Le journal « Le Monde » : une histoire d'indépendance |trans-title=The Newspaper "Le Monde": A story of independence |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions Odile Jacob |year=2001 |isbn=2-7381-0946-2}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Péan |first=Pierre |author2=Philippe Cohen |title=La Face cachée du « Monde » : du contre-pouvoir aux abus de pouvoir |trans-title=The Hidden Face of "Le Monde": From Counterpower to Abuse of Power |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions des Mille et Une Nuits |year=2003|ref=none}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Rollat |first=Alain |title=Ma part du « Monde » : vingt-cinq ans de liberté d'expression |trans-title=My share of “Le Monde”: twenty-five years of freedom of expression |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions de Paris |year=2003 |isbn=2-84621-040-3}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Eveno |first=Patrick |title=Histoire du journal « Le Monde », 1944–2004 |trans-title=History of the Newspaper "Le Monde", 1944–2004 |place=Paris |publisher=Albin Michel |year=2004 |isbn=2-226-21373-2}} * {{cite book |language=fr |last=Fottorino |first=Éric |title=Mon tour du Monde |trans-title=My Tour of the World |place=Paris |publisher=Éditions Gallimard |year=2012 |isbn=978-2-07-013419-9}}
== External links == * [https://www.lemonde.fr/en/ Official website] {{in lang|en}} * [https://www.lemonde.fr Official website] {{in lang|fr}} * {{cite web |language=fr |title=Le Monde |trans-title=Le Monde |website=Radio Télévision Suisse |date=February 1968 |url=http://www.rts.ch/archives/tv/information/continents-sans-visa/3461386-le-monde.html |access-date=16 December 2025}}
{{Newspapers in France}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monde, Le}} Category:1944 establishments in France Category:French news websites Category:Centre-left newspapers Category:Daily newspapers published in France Category:Liberal media in France Category:Liberal socialism Category:Newspapers published in Paris Category:Newspapers established in 1944 Category:Social democratic media