Paris Match

Paris Match is a French-language weekly news magazine. It covers major national and international news along with celebrity lifestyle features. Paris Match has been considered "one of the world's best outlets for photojournalism". Its content quality was compared to the American magazine Life. Paris Matchs original slogan was "The weight of words, the shock of photos", which was changed to "Life is a true story" in 2008. Long coveted by Bernard Arnault, the magazine is owned by Vincent Bolloré. History and profile A sports news magazine, Match l'intran (a play on L'Intransigeant), was launched on 9 November 1926 by Léon Bailby. It was acquired by the Louis-Dreyfus group in 1931 and then by the industrialist Jean Prouvost in 1938. Under Prouvost the magazine expanded its focus beyond sports, to a format reminiscent of Life: Le Match de la vie ("The Match of Life") and then Match, l'hebdomadaire de l'actualité mondiale ("Match, the weekly of world news"). Following the outbreak of World War II it became Match de la guerre ("Match of War") in October 1939. Selling for 2 francs a copy, it reached a circulation of 1.45 million by November. Publication was halted on 6 June 1940, during the Battle of France. The magazine was relaunched in 1949 with a new name, Paris Match. The magazine temporarily ceased its publication between 18 May and 15 June 1968 upon the call for a strike by the Syndicat du Livre, the French printers' union. In 1976, Daniel Filipacchi purchased the ailing Paris Match. It continues to be one of France's most successful and influential magazines. It is published weekly and is now part of Hachette Filipacchi Médias, which is itself owned by the Lagardère Group.