the Lagardère group wants to launch “JDNEWS”, a weekly competitor to “Paris Match”

Soon a new title in the French media landscape. The Lagardère group plans to create a rival to Paris Matcha magazine that he is forced to sell for competitive reasons, and to other weekly news magazines, one of its directors announced to Figaro Tuesday evening. “At the start of the September school year, we will launch a new weekly news magazine, called JDNEWS”declared the president of Lagardère News, Constance Benqué, to the daily newspaper.

This name recalls that of the Journal du Dimanche (JDD), and for good reason, the JDNEWS will join the “brand” created around the Sunday title – whose chief editorial office was entrusted in August 2023 to Geoffroy Lejeune, a journalist with a strong right-wing influence. This launch means the discontinuation of the monthly JDD Magazine, dedicated to books and culture, which did not find a sufficient readership. The JDD brand, “which will encompass JDD and JDNEWS”, will be entrusted to Laurence Ferrari, face of CNEWS and Vincent Bolloré’s Vivendi group, which Lagardère entered at the end of 2023.

Paris Match, a weekly which celebrated its 75th anniversary in March, famous for its shocking photos and covers, is in the process of being bought by the luxury group LVMH. This sale was one of the conditions set by the European competition authorities for the entry of Lagardère into the fold of Vivendi.

Since the end of 2021, and the takeover of Lagardère by Vincent Bolloré, “Paris Match” has undergone a profound transformation. Between brutal departures and controversies on the editorial side, recent years have seen the successful title anchor itself in the media sphere of the Breton billionaire.