''Sud Ouest'' (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

for "South West") is a daily French newspaper, the third largest regional daily in France in terms of circulation.Groupe Sud Ouest
Ecole Supérieure de journalisme de Lille It was created in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

, on August 29, 1944, by Jacques Lemoine, as a successor to ''La Petite Gironde''. In 1949, the Sunday edition, ''Sud Ouest Dimanche'' was launched. ''Sud Ouest'' covers the

Gironde Gironde ( US usually, , ; oc, Gironda, ) is the largest department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,6 ...

, the

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

, the

Charente-Maritime Charente-Maritime () is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kil ...

, the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named ...

, the

Pyrénées Atlantiques The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

and the Lot et Garonne départements. It is owned by the Groupe Sud Ouest, which was directed by Jacques Lemoine from 1944 to 1968, and by his son Jean-François Lemoine from 1968 to 2001. The president of the group since February 2008 has been Pierre Jeantet. 80% of the group belongs to the Lemoine family, 10% to the journalists, and the remaining 10% to the staff.

The Sud Ouest group

Besides ''Sud Ouest'', the group has progressively broadened and now also owns ''La Charente Libre'', ''La Dordogne Libre'', ''La République des Pyrénées'' and ''L’Eclair des Pyrénées-Pays de l’Adour''. In 2007, the Groupe Sud Ouest bought ''Le Midi Libre'', ''L’Indépendant'', ''Centre Presse (Aveyron)'' and ''Montpellier Plus'' from the group

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 ...

, which was forced to sell these titles because of its crushing debt. These local papers of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, allow Groupe Sud Ouest to extend outside the Aquitaine and

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...

regions. Besides the dailies, the Groupe Sud Ouest also owns the weekly magazines ''Le Résistant'' (

Libourne Libourne (; oc, label= Gascon, Liborna ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the wine-making capital of northern Gironde and lies near Saint-Ém ...

), ''Haute Saintonge'' (

Jonzac Jonzac (; french: label=Poitevin-Saintongese, Jhonzat) is a commune of the Charente-Maritime department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. The historian Jean Glénisson (1921–2010) was born in Jonzac as well as the philosopher Jean ...

), ''Haute Gironde'' (

Blaye Blaye (; oc, Blaia ) is a commune and subprefecture in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. For centuries, Blaye was a particularly convenient crossing point for those who came from the north and went to Bordea ...

), ''l’Hebdo de Charente Maritime'' ( Surgères), ''La Semaine du Pays Basque'', ''La Dépêche du Bassin'' and ''Le Journal du Médoc''. The weeklies ''La Semaine du Roussillon'', ''le Journal de Millau'', ''l’Aveyronnais'', ''le Catalan Judiciaire'', ''Terre de Vins'' and ''Terres Catalanes'', all published in Languedoc-Roussillon, were also sold by Le Monde to Groupe Sud Ouest in 2007. Groupe Sud Ouest publishes various surf magazines, including ''Surf Session', ''Bodyboard'' and ''Surfer's Journal''. A publishing house, ''éditions Sud Ouest'', specializes in local history, tourism and food and owns the local TV station, TV7 Bordeaux. The revenue of the group was 325 million euros in 2006,"Qui Possède quoi ?"
''

Le Nouvel Observateur (), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...

'', December 26, 2007 and after the absorption of the Languedoc-Roussillon papers, it expected a 555 million Euro revenue."Pierre Jeantet retrouve la direction du Groupe Sud Ouest"
''

Libération ''Libération'' (), popularly known as ''Libé'' (), is a daily newspaper in France, founded in Paris by Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge July in 1973 in the wake of the protest movements of May 1968. Initially positioned on the far-left of France' ...

'', February 7, 2008

The newspaper

The newspaper ''Sud Ouest'' distinguishes itself by a coverage more thorough than usual for a French local daily of the national and international news. Politically, the paper is rather neutral although it has once compared Bruno Mégret with Philippe Henriot after a meeting of the

Front National The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: * ...

in Bordeaux in the 1990s. It features an editorial cartoonist, Michel Iturria, and a regular opinion column signed by Franck de Bondt.

Circulation

The paper circulation is around 300,000 copies.

Sources

External links

Sud Ouest newspaper

The Sud Ouest group
{{Authority control Publications established in 1944 Daily newspapers published in France Mass media in Bordeaux