''Le Rénovateur'' is the only

French-language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

in the Lao PDR (

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

). It is published weekly by the ''Lao Press in Foreign Languages'', which is a specialised agency of the Ministry of Information and Culture It was started in 1998 after the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

government decided to start a new policy in order to open the country. It was helped in the beginning by the Agence intergouvernementale de la Francophonie, an international organisation that promotes the French language, especially in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and in South-East Asia. Its first editor-in-chief was Douangta Manokoun, with the support of a French advisor, Michel Leroy. Since the newspaper's 200th edition, FrancoNet Canada has helped it to publish on-line. The French Cultural Center of

Vientiane Vientiane ( , ; lo, ວຽງຈັນ, ''Viangchan'', ) is the capital and largest city of Laos. Vientiane is divided administratively into 9 cities with a total area of only approx. 3,920 square kilometres and is located on the banks of ...

pays someone to correct the articles written by Laotian

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

s. ''Le Rénovateur'' is sometimes described as a

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

newspaper by the opposition living abroad. In 2003, ''Le Rénovateur'' published an interview with Mr Phivath, the lawyer of Thierry Falise and Vincent Reynaud,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an journalists arrested because they were investigating reports of the war between the Laotian Army and the country's Hmong tribespeople in the jungle of Saysomboun special zone. The interviews were censored, but received the '' Prix de la libre expression'' (Free-Speech Prize), given by the Union de la Presse Francophone. Also in 2003, ''Le Rénovateur'' published stories about working in garment sweat shops,

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...

at the beginning of the socialist revolution, and the difficulties of being gay in Vientiane. Created by Soumsanouk Mixay, the newspaper was taken over Savankhone Razmountry in 2003.

References

External links

Renovateur'' Web page
Newspapers published in Laos French-language newspapers published in Asia Newspapers established in 1998 {{Laos-stub

See also

References

External links