The Impact of Fact

"The newsmagazine idea is snowballing in Europe," says Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, general director of the French magazine L'Express. Converted from a leftist political weekly to a newsmagazine only 18 months ago, L'Express has more than doubled its circulation to 280,000. Last spring Belgium produced its first newsmagazine. Special; last October Holland's biggest weekly, Elseviers, changed to a newsmagazine format. Italy's L'Espresso plans to make the change this year, and Italy's Vita, a newsmagazine with a disproportionate emphasis on political exposes and movie queens, is celebrating its seventh anniversary. Granddaddy of them all, of course, is West Germany's aggressive Der Spiegel, which in 20 years has built circulation to a solid 769,000.

Modeled after TIME, the European publications divide the news by subjects, run a cover story, personalize the news. They have helped to break down the traditional reluctance of European public figures to talk to the press. In general, stories run to greater length than TIME'S, the magazines are less tightly edited, and printed on poorer paper.

The newsmagazines are catching on fast in most European countries, but not in England, where several newspapers are not only national, but also have big Sunday supplements of wide scope covering all subjects. European newsmagazines are often criticized for lack of depth and commitment and for carrying too much advertising. "But now the ideological wars are over," says Servan-Schreiber. "Europe has been depoliticized. Opinion not founded on fact has no impact any more. Ours is the new journalism."

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