''Ouest-France'' ( ; French for "West-France") is a daily French
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 ...
known for its emphasis on both local and national news. The paper is produced in 47 different editions covering events in different French
départments within the
régions
France is Administrative divisions of France, divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are Overseas departments and reg ...
of
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
,
Lower Normandy
Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy.
Geography
The region included three departme ...
and
Pays de la Loire
Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" ().
...
. Its readership has been unaffected by the decline of newspaper reading in France, unlike most other dailies.
With 2.5 million daily readers (and a circulation of almost 800 000 units), it is by far the most read
francophone
French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...
newspaper in the world, ahead of French national newspapers ''
Le Figaro
''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'' and ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
''.
History
''Ouest-France'' was founded in 1944 by
Adolphe Le Goaziou Adolphe Yves Marie Le Goaziou (April 16, 1887 – September 18, 1953) was a bookseller, publisher and member of the French Resistance in wartime Brittany.
Early life
Born in Morlaix, Finistère, Le Goaziou studied at the high school in Saint-Pol- ...
and others following the closure of ''Ouest-Éclair'', which was banned by Liberation forces for collaborationism during the war.
[Jean-Loup Avril, ''Mille Bretons, dictionnaire biographique'', Les Portes du Large, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, 2003, ()] It is based in
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
and
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
and has a circulation about 792,400 (greater than any French national daily newspaper), mostly in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
.
Its editorial line has been strongly pro-
European integration
European integration is the process of industrial, economic integration, economic, political, legal, social integration, social, and cultural Regional integration, integration of states wholly or partially in Europe or nearby. European integrat ...
from the beginning, influenced by
Christian democracy
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
(
Popular Republican Movement
The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...
), now
MoDem
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
,
Nouveau Centre
The Centrists (french: Les Centristes, LC), formerly known as New Centre (''Nouveau Centre'', NC) and European Social Liberal Party (''Parti Social Libéral Européen'', PSLE), is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of ...
or
Union for a Popular Movement
The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...
(UMP). With 2.52 million readers, Ouest-France is also the leading French-language daily in the world.
The paper had a circulation of 773,471 copies in 2001 and 764,731 copies in 2002 with a market share of 14.41%. The paper had a circulation of 637,463 copies in 2020.
The distinct editions
The 47 different editions are divided among twelve départements :
See also
*
List of French newspapers
Below is a list of newspapers in France.
National Daily
; Online newspapers
* ''Mediapart'' (internet only, investigative journalism)
* ''La Tribune'' (switched to internet only since 2012, economics)
* '' Slate''
* '' Atlantico''
* '' C ...
References
External links
''Ouest-France'' website
{{Authority control
1944 establishments in France
Daily newspapers published in France
Mass media in Rennes
Publications established in 1944