''Le Rénovateur'' is the only
French-language newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, 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 p ...
in the Lao PDR (
Laos). 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 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 pays someone to correct the articles written by Laotian journalists.
''Le Rénovateur'' is sometimes described as a propaganda newspaper by the opposition living abroad. In 2003, ''Le Rénovateur'' published an interview with Mr Phivath, the lawyer of Thierry Falise and Vincent Reynaud, European journalists arrested because they were investigating reports of the war between the Laotian Army and the country's Hmong people, Hmong tribespeople in the jungle of Special Zone of Xaisomboun, 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 censorship 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.
See also
* List of newspapers in Laos
References
External links
Renovateur'' Web page
Newspapers published in Laos
French-language newspapers published in Asia
Newspapers established in 1998
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