L'Express (French pronunciation: [lɛkspʁɛs]) is a French weekly news magazine headquartered in Paris.[1] The weekly stands at the political centre in the French media landscape, and has a lifestyle supplement, L'Express Styles, and a job supplement, Réussir.[2]
L'Express was co-founded in 1953[3] by Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber,[4][5] future president of the Radical Party, and Françoise Giroud,[6] who had earlier edited ELLE and went on to become France's first minister of women's affairs in 1974 and minister of culture in 1976. When founded during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine Time[5] and the German magazine Der Spiegel.[7] L'Express is published weekly.[8]
The magazine was supportive of the policies of Pierre Mendès-France in Indochina, and in general had a left-of-centre orientation. The magazine opposed the war in Algeria, and especially the use of torture.[9] In March 1958, as a result of an article of Jean-Paul Sartre reviewing the book La Question by Henri Alleg, the magazine was prevented from being published by the French Government. In order to resume publication, L'Express had to print a new issue without the incriminated article. François Mauriac was a regular contributor with his Bloc-Notes column but left L'Express when Charles De Gaulle returned to power.[citation needed]
In 1964, a number of journalists, including Jean Daniel and André Gorz, quit L'Express to found Le Nouvel Observateur. Servan-Schreiber turned L'Express into a less politically engaged publication, and the circulation rose from 150,000 to 500,000 copies in three years.[citation needed]
In 1971, as a result of Servan-Schreiber's political activities as a deputy of the Radical Party, nine journalists of L'Express, including Claude Imbert, left the magazine and created Le Point to counter what they perceived as the "current breed of French intellectuals in the press and elsewhere, with their leftist dogmas and complacent nihilism".[10]
Jean-François Revel became director in October 1978. He was replaced by Yves Cuau in May 1981. The same year the magazine had a circulation of 507,000 copies.[13]