French communist paper seeks private capital
The communist French daily l'Humanite, established in 1904 and still owned by the French Communist Party, is to welcome private investors and undergo a restructuring plan to avoid going out of business.
"Reform of the paper's structures aimed at achieving greater efficiency, a recomposition of its assets and a change in direction," were essential, according to recommendations submitted in a report to the national council of the Communist Party.
"The Party must remain a referring shareholder with a minority vote retaining blocking power while a company of readers hold the majority of the shares," the report said.
"L'Humanite must be a communist paper for today, no longer just the Communist Party official paper."
The far-left paper has been losing around half a million euros a month despite a relaunch a year ago and is not selling enough copies to make the paper viable.
The paper's former director Pierre Zarka and editor Claude Cabanes were dismissed last week after failing to stem the haemorrhage of readers and revenue which has seen circulation slump to an estimated 45,000.
Patrick le Hyaric, a member of the Communist Party's executive college is due to take over as the paper's director.
But the paper's declining fortunes, with sales now less than a third of the 150,000 circulation of the early 1980s, reflect those of the party itself.
Membership is estimated at 275,000 compared with around 500,000 in 1975 and is continuing to fall sharply despite the communists' participation.