Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
The board of directors at the French left-wing newspaper Liberation assembled for a further meeting on its fate on Wednesday but took no action on measures to stave off bankruptcy, board member Claude Alphandery said after the session.
Under discussion Wednesday was a rescue package from banker Edouard de Rothschild -- who owns 39 percent of the capital -- to shed more than a third of the 280-strong workforce and spin off the paper's Internet edition into a separate venture.
However the plan is strongly opposed by staff, represented by the Civil Society of Liberation Personnel (SCPL), which owns 18.4 percent of the shares. The SCPL backs alternative proposals from the left-wing journalist Edwy Plenel, former editor of Le Monde.
Plenel is pushing for savings of 10 million euros (12.5 million dollars) next year via reduced pagination and voluntary reduncancies, and hopes to boost circulation with a relaunch "marking Liberation clearly as a daily of the left".
Speaking to journalists Rothschild said: "I am not convinced that the Plenel plan is the best way to preserve Liberation for the future."
But he added that the board had raised the possibility of appointing Plenel to manage the paper's development, an idea he said needed to be explored further.
"Edouard de Rothschild agreed to discussions on the basis of the SCPL proposals," noted Francois Wenz Dumas of the SNJ union. "The door has not been closed."
Rothschild -- who became main shareholder with a 20-million-euro investment in January 2005 -- and the SCPL have a veto over the decision. If no agreement is reached, it will fall to a court-appointed administrator to arbitrate on the best way to avoid bankruptcy.
Two weeks ago Liberation got a stay of execution when a court granted protection from creditors for six months to allow time for restructuring.
Founded in 1973 by a group of Maoists including philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, Liberation is in severe financial difficulties thanks to falling sales and competition from free-sheets and the Internet.
A first round of cost-cutting a year ago led to 56 job losses. The paper sells 135,000 copies a day, but its annual turn-over of 30 million euros is expected to produce a loss of 13 million euros this year.
Under pressure from Rothschild, Liberation's co-founder Serge July resigned in June, prompting an angry walkout by four of the paper's top journalists, including Florence Aubenas who was held hostage for five months in Iraq.
Since June Liberation has been co-managed under a temporary arrangement, with responsibility split between a journalist chosen by staff and a publisher appointed by Rothschild.
Another meeting is now scheduled for October 26.
hs-nh/ds
France-media-press-industry-Liberation
AFP 181836 GMT 10 06
COPYRIGHT 2006 Agence France-Presse. All rights reserved.
