French English: The English-language Press of France

One good use for this new NUJ Paris website would be to collate information as a resource for all of us.

This article is a first attempt to compile a list of English-language publications about France. For now, I’ll keep it to newspapers and magazines but it would also be interesting to know about websites and radio stations.

I’ve written a lot for expat English-language newspapers and magazines, mainly in Spain, and in my experience they tend to be (with exceptions) poorly paying and ephemeral. Combine the two and you get a publication which goes bust while you go from being underpaid to unpaid. So be warned.

My reasons for collecting this information are:

1. these publications can be useful markets if you don’t rely on them and allow them their limitations. In particular, you can reuse articles and photos and get paid a second time for the same work.
2. they are great sources of information and ideas. Some stories involving foreigners abroad can be of interest to the mainstream British media.
3. Conversely, they are also useful vehicles if you need to publicise something
4. If you need local advice, or a stringer, the editor of a local paper is the person to ask
5. If we know about these publications, and share what we know, we can help each other when things go wrong. Expat journalists are not great union-joiners but at least we NUJ members can form a common front if some magazine refuses to pay a contributor.

Later it may be useful to expand the idea to Spain (where there are a great number of sprouting and vanishing papers and magazines) or even Europe, but for now here are the ones that I know about in France. Let me know of any others you have worked for. Tell me what your experiences have been with them and whether you’d recommend other journalists to work for them using the Reply to this Article button below or Contact Us button.

International Herald Tribune Founded by James Gordon Bennett jnr (as in the famous exclamation) in 1887 for wealthy Americans summering in Paris, Europe, this paper is now owned by the New York Times. Based in Neuilly and edited by Alison Smale (who is British) it is an international publication read by American expats, Britons and people of other nationalities who want to read their news in English. Many of them and pick it up at airports. Although international, it has a clear American accent as seen in the spelling and the use of “football” in the US sense of the word.

France
Tel: 01242 216 050 or Email: editorial@francemag.com
“Britain and North America’s bestselling magazine about France” Long-running, glossy magazine published in Britain for the benefit of Francophiles. I wrote for them ages ago and was reasonably well paid and paid on time.

Living France
Archant House Oriel Road Cheltenham Gloucestershire GL50 IBB, Tel: 01242 216086 editorial@livingfrance.com, Editor: Eleanor O’Kane eleanor@livingfrance.com
Sister publication to France magazine. I did a fair amount of work for this magazine in the days when it was published by Trevor Yorke. The magazine had an arrangement with tourist authorities and the assignments I did were well paid, including expenses, but that was under the previous management.

French Property news
Sister magazine of France which says what it does on the can.

French News
This was a brave attempt to cover the whole of France for the benefit of English-speaking residents but it folded through insolvency at the end of 2008. Currently (early 2009) the editor Miranda Neame (savefrenchnews@gmail.com) is trying to restart the paper with a different financial structure by raising funds from would-be shareholders.

Riviera Reporter
56 Chemin de Provence Mougins 04 93 45 77 19
Founded 1987. Looks serious and stable from its website but I don’t know it personally.

The Rendezvous
editor@therendezvous.info
Normandy. No further details for the moment.

The Connexion
BP 25 06480 La Colle sur Loup Tel 04 93 08 31 03, contact@connexionfrance.com
I haven’t seen it yet but you can order a free trial copy on the website

Ici Londres
The Diary House, Rickett Street - London SW6 1RU, Tel: 0845 094 5814 info@ici-londres.com
I’ve included this out of interest because it is a magazine going in the opposite direction: a free French-language publication in English.