PARIS: The unlikely marriage between a Rothschild heir and Liberation, the left-wing tabloid born in the rubble of France's 1968 student riots, is already on the rocks.
Edouard de Rothschild, who last year paid €20 million (US$26 million) to become the newspaper's biggest shareholder, is to present a "last chance" turnaround plan to staff representatives and other board members Wednesday, amid mounting losses.
Liberation's difficulties underscore those faced by newspapers worldwide, as the Internet and free papers take a toll on traditional media and their advertising revenues. In France, the squeeze is compounded by expensive, heavily unionized printing and distribution services.
The April 2005 deal with Rothschild, who now owns 38 percent of the paper, has raised eyebrows among a dwindling readership that cherishes Liberation's unwavering left-wing editorial line. It also revived a debate about media ownership and press freedom that followed defense tycoon Serge Dassault's acquisition of a controlling stake in conservative daily Le Figaro the previous year.
The crunch meeting at Liberation comes three months after Rothschild ousted Chairman Serge July, a veteran of France's 1968 student rebellion who co-founded the paper with the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre five years later and continued to command a loyal following among staff.
The sacking triggered a wave of high-profile departures including that of Florence Aubenas, the French journalist kidnapped and held for 157 days in Iraq last year.
Liberation's staff now fears heavy layoffs, a reduction in page count and the spinning off of the newspaper's web site — France's third most visited. According to unconfirmed media reports, Rothschild is seeking to cut between 70 and 100 of the paper's 285 jobs.
A spokeswoman for SCPL, the staff holding that owns 18 percent of Liberation and wields a veto over management decisions, said representatives had been working with shareholders on a relaunch for the paper and were surprised when Rothschild announced last week that he had a new business plan to present.
"The impression we got was that they've been working behind our backs without consulting us," Muriel Gremillet said. Under the joint management structure introduced after the last shake-up, SCPL appoints the newspaper's chairman and Rothschild names the chief executive.
Liberation is on course for a sixth straight year of losses after losing about €6 million (US$8 million) in the first six months of the year, despite cutbacks. The paper's average circulation stands at 135,000 copies — compared with Le Figaro's 322,000 and Le Monde's 314,000 daily sales.
Executives have tried but so far failed to recruit new investors for the paper, Rothschild's spokeswoman Isabelle Bascou said. She declined to say whether the turnaround plan would include layoffs but said time was running out for the newspaper.
"It's clearly a last chance, because Liberation is in a very grave and difficult financial state," she said. "The business plan will have to be rethought from both an editorial and structural point of view in order to make this newspaper viable."
Rothschild, who left the family bank in 2003 to head racecourse operator France Galop, has been in talks with "several people" who might be interested in the editorship, Bascou said.
Edwy Plenel, a former editor of center-left daily Le Monde, made a bid for the job last week, outlining his vision for the newspaper at a meeting with staff representatives.
In a double-page spread published earlier this month, Liberation's journalists appealed to Rothschild to "fulfill his responsibilities" and invest more money in the paper.
But Rothschild's spokeswoman appeared to rule out any fresh cash injection without deeper management changes.
"It's misleading to let people believe that more money will solve everything," Bascou said. "If the paper remains in its current state then money solves nothing — it just postpones the problem."
