Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The liberated Parisien was founded on August 22, 1944 by Émilien Amaury and the resistors, replacing Le Petit Parisien forbidden for collaboration. His first title announces: "The victory of Paris is on!", three days before the Liberation. The newspaper adopts a generalist editorial line based on various facts and local news, with a controversial motto: "Information must not be accurate, it must be enormous". In 1947, he became a public limited company and created the Grand Prix Vérité to reward lived stories.

In the 1960s, the daily newspaper, very read in the Parisian suburbs, took part in "French Algeria" during the Algerian war. He used anti-Muslim stereotypes and minimized police violence, as in the massacre of 17 October 1961, where he supported Prefect Maurice Papon. This period marks its anchoring to the right, Gaullist, before a gradual refocusing from the 1980s.

The crisis of the 1970s hit the newspaper hard: strikes, the fall of the readership (from 682,000 to 303,000 copies between 1975 and 1977), and the closure of the historic printing house of Saint-Ouen in 2015. In 1986, Philippe Amaury (son of the founder) renamed Le Parisien, launched a national edition (Today in France in 1994) and modernized the editorial line, abandoning extremist positions. The newspaper focuses on proximity and services, becoming the first regional daily in Île-de-France.

Purchased in 2015 by Bernard Arnault's LVMH group, the newspaper undergoes restructuring plans and an accelerated digital transition. Despite annual losses of €20 million on average, it receives public subsidies (€1.7 million in 2024). In 2017, the headquarters moved to 10 boulevard de Grenelle (Paris 15e), symbolizing its evolution towards a hybrid model, between local and national press.

The Parisian remains marked by controversies, such as accusations of censorship (refusal to chronicle Merci Patron! in 2016, critic of Bernard Arnault) or his treatment of the Yellow Gilets and riots of 2023. By 2024, it exceeded 100,000 digital subscribers, thanks to the Olympic Games, but envisaged a new divestment, raising fears about its editorial independence.

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