Inside France

The U.S. has a new tabloid newspaper. It prints no racy photographs --in fact, it prints no photographs at all. Its gourmet column dwells on such matters as the proper preparation of eel. Its travel stories tell how to avoid the plague of Americans in Paris. Its news stories read more like scholarly essays or finicky editorials, reflecting the attitude of its writing staff of 110, three-quarters of whom hold a Ph.D., law, or master's degree in literature or political science. There is scarcely any advertising; yet the paper's success seems virtually assured. Perhaps most unusual of all, the paper is printed in Paris. It is the English-language edition of Paris' Le Monde, and it is an invaluable aid for Americans who need or want to understand France and Europe from within.

Hubert Beuve-Mery, Le Monde's erudite editor, notes that, "It is events such as the accouchement of Brigitte Bardot that send our competitors' sales soaring. For us, it is a political crisis." From this viewpoint, the first appearance of the English-language weekly edition could hardly have been more auspicious: it came out the Wednesday before the referendum that brought down Charles de Gaulle. Le Monde cast a cool eye at De Gaulle's threatened resignation, denounced it as "a kind of blackmail," and wondered whether Frenchmen should "grant General de Gaulle the 'blank cheque' that he is demanding." Le Monde seemed to think that they should not. The next week, the paper accepted the results as more or less foreordained, dissected the non vote and analyzed M. Pompidou's bid for "Gaullism without De Gaulle."

Other stories pointed up Le Monde's wider beat. Marshal Lin Piao, "the man who launched the little red book," was profiled. An anonymous report from Athens dissected the problems of the Greek junta: "The toughest rivals which the regime will have to face may come from within the military establishment itself--in spite of the elimination of several hundred officers and the promotion of many others."

Unable to Cope. Beuve-Mery has put Lois Grjebine, 38, a Smith College graduate and former Realites editor, in charge of the English edition. She commands a squad of three assistant editors and 30 part-time translators, most of whom are professionals employed by Paris-based international organizations. Selling for 50-c- in the U.S. and two shillings in Britain, the paper has a current circulation of 25,000. Who reads it? Gervase Markham, a Le Monde director, says: "University professors, students, Francophiles, diplomats, government officials, businessmen, journalists, people in the art world. Anyone who wants to know how the most serious newspaper in France looks at an event. And a lot of others who simply can't cope with Le Monde in French."

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