Direction of the “World”: Jerome Fenoglio proposed by shareholders – Le Point

The shareholders of the World have created a surprise by offering to employees Friday to entrust the management of the newspaper to Jerome Fenoglio, current No. 2, and preferring the three declared candidates. In an email sent to the editor, the trio of owners (Pierre Bergé, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse) said it had asked the current managing editor, 48, who was not a candidate. Their choice has yet to be ratified by the employees. The shareholders rejected the candidacy of the current interim director of the newspaper, Gilles Van Kote, as well as Christophe Ayad, head of the international service, and Jean Birnbaum, head of the World Books .

“At the end of the hearings and after consultation, and despite the great qualities of each candidate and the very positive assessment of the interim provided by Gilles Van Kote, the three shareholders asked to Jerome Fenoglio candidate, “they detail. Some in the drafting, wanted the new director “no more breath, more dimension” Gilles van Kote confided early April a journalist. The choice of shareholders must be submitted to the vote of the World Editors Society (MRS), to be held by mid-May. Jerome Fenoglio will have to collect 60% of favorable votes to be officially appointed by the Supervisory Board.

He holds a Master of Arts degree from the Graduate School of Journalism in Lille (ESJ), Jerome Fenoglio entered the World in 1991 as a reporter in the sports department . He has held several line functions: Head of Society (2004) and Monde.fr the editor between 2011 and 2013. In May 2014, he was appointed head of the editorial World , led by Gilles Van Kote, became acting director after the departure of Natalie Nougayrède, after a several-month crisis. Contested, the first woman to head the newspaper resigned after only 15 months in office. Journalists and heads of service management reproached him “self-sufficient” and “rigid” and reforms carried out without consultation.

“Instability”

In a message to employees Friday, Gilles Van Kote welcomed a “choice that safeguards the interests of the newspaper” and “remarkable” work his deputy, while expressing “regret”: “Jerome will be our sixth director of World since the acquisition of the group in late 2010. This instability that hinders the necessary transformation of the newspaper instead shareholders of their responsibilities, “he laments.

If it is dubbed by the editor, Jerome Fenoglio will take control of a newspaper which, if suffered like others from the press crisis, rather well last year with almost stable distribution (-0.8%) to 273,000 copies on average each day. It will also carry out several projects in the months and years to come. Le Monde is to launch a digital May 11 morning edition, intended for tablets and mobile. To a young audience and present on smartphones, this format freemium (combining free and pay-party options) will be a point early in the morning on the news. Completing its editorial offering, the daily wants some particular loyalty of its 150,000 digital subscribers. The year 2015 should also see Le Monde out of the printer’s trade with the closing of the printing plant in Ivry, near Paris.

In 2017, the future headquarters of the Le Monde , in the south of Paris, should help bring together the 1400 employees of different publications: Le Monde , the cultural weekly Télérama magazine The Obs , Rue89 information sites and Huffington Post, International Mail and Life .