Lyon (AFP)
La Montagne, one of the oldest regional dailies, celebrates its centenary on Friday, culminating in the visit of President Emmanuel Macron.
October 4, 1919 appears the first issue of the daily, accompanied by an editorial of its founder Alexandre Varenne, entitled "Forward!" in which he affirms his willingness to respond to "the imperious need for a new democracy after the hurricane of unheard-of miseries that our country has just experienced".
Lawyer, journalist, politician close to Jean Jaurès, Alexandre Varenne opposes the Vichy regime during the Occupation and attracts the wrath of censorship. He will suspend the publication of his diary in August 1943.
The Mountain is thus "one of the few dailies to have been able to take back its name after its scuttling of thirteen months during the Second world war", specifies the website of the daily newspaper.
In 1945, Alexandre Varenne became deputy of Puy-de-Dôme, before being Minister of State from June to November 1946. He died on February 16, 1947.
From now on, the Alexandre-Varenne foundation, which launches on the occasion of the centenary of the regional daily a stamp in partnership with the Post office with the effigy of the founder, works for the valorization of the profession of journalist and for the education to the media.
The Mountain is distributed to 148,000 copies, according to the Alliance for Press and Media Figures (ACPM), the ninth position in the ranking of regional dailies.
The newspaper of the Center-France group includes 14 different editions that cover the departments of Allier, Cantal, Corrèze, Creuse, Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme.
Like all the written press whose sales are eroding, La Montagne digitized itself with a diffusion of its articles on its Internet site, created in 2006, and on its mobile application, as well as the creation a video service.
On Friday, a special edition was published and the daily organizes an anniversary day with the screening of the documentary "The media, the world and me" by Anne-Sophie Novel, followed by a debate, a lecture-show and a an exchange between Emmanuel Macron, journalists of the group and business leaders.
© 2019 AFP