Mediapart

Mediapart is an independent newspaper, created by journalists and controlled by its founders. In addition to the founders, the other shareholders are the Friends of Mediapart and some investment partners. At the end of the next capital increase, which will bring together the amounts to EUR 3.7 million, the six founding account for 60% of capital, investors and friends for 40%. Originally Mediapart, there are four journalists. These are François Bonnet, Gérard Desportes, Laurent Mauduit and myself. It was there a little over a year, between late 2006 and early 2007. We had the main idea, an editorial project, a common will, a desire for independence, in fact shared convictions, both democratic and professional. But everything else was missing: a thorough knowledge of and experience in web business creation. Besides the sinews of war: money, of course. Thus, on the advice of a trusted friend, the mathematician Michel Broué, we met Godfrey Beauvallet, academic specializing in information systems, and Marie-Hélène Smiéjan, senior manager in IT companies. Both have confirmed our initial intuitions, enriched the project and invented solutions: with one, we have refined our business model, able to raise the necessary funds and managed up our society; through the other, we have deepened the participatory dimension, contributory and community project, and met Benedict Thieulin while he was creating, in summer 2007 its Internet agency, become our partner, The Netscouade. This starting point is also the point of arrival: the seven people who were the original nucleus are found today in the heart of the economic structure that guarantees the independence of your newspaper. While Michel Broué Mediapart chairs the Society of Friends of the six founders are Godefroy Beauvallet Mediapart, Francois Bonnet Gérard Desportes, Laurent Mauduit Edwy Plenel and Marie-Hélène Smiéjan. Clearly, Mediapart is a newspaper journalist whose capital is controlled by its founding team, itself composed mainly of journalists. Without wanting to lecture anyone, we will just point out that in the current landscape of the daily press, such structural economic independence is not common. The society we have created is a SAS (simplified joint stock company), the publishing company Mediapart, whose starting capital, consists of our personal contributions, reached a total of 1,325,000 euros. This capital was then opened to two other families of shareholders: on the one hand, investors, partners entering capital for amounts up to 500,000 euros; secondly, the Society of Friends of Mediapart, also an SAS that brings together forty friendly investors invested mostly sums ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 euros.

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