In Réunion Island, the very first local newspaper was published in 1974 thanks to priest Delsuc. It was called &ldquoLe Vrai Républicain ou Journal Politique et Littéraire de l'île de bourbon." But, the first daily newspaper, &ldquoLe Creole&rdquo was published by Elizée Pélagaud a century later in 1882. There used to be 84 newspapers in 1900, but today there are only about twenty. &ldquoTémoignages&rdquo holds the highest record of longevity (65 years), followed by &ldquoLe Progrès&rdquo by Paul Hoarau and &ldquoLe Peuple.&rdquo Originally, these newspapers were purely for administrative purposes. They did not the cover current events and had no journalists working for them at all. The first paper specialising in analysis and commentary was published around 1830 at the Franco-Créoles and Robinet de la Serve&rsquos behest. It was characterised by a dynastic and family aspect.

Runweb invites you for a journey through the heart of the main local newspapers, radios and TV channels.

Information on the main newspapers

Le Quotidien

1 rue Lislet Geoffroy Ste Clotilde
Tel. : 0262 92 15 15
Managing Editor : Maximin Chan-Ki-Chune
Editor-in- Chief: Bruno Geoffroy
Number of copies circulated : 35 508
This Reunion Island daily newspaper was created on 13th September 1976. After a hectic start, the newspaper managed to survive thanks to press pluralism. As opposed to its competitors, the &ldquoJournal de l&rsquoîle&rdquo and &ldquoTémoignages,&rdquo &ldquoLe Quotidien&rdquo gained success due to its non-political character. Moreover, it was the first newspaper to introduce the following news sections: &ldquosociety&rdquo, &ldquoagriculture&rdquo and &ldquoads.&rdquo

J.I.R (Journal de l'Ile de la Réunion)

357 rue Maréchal Leclerc 97400 SAINT DENIS
Tel. : 0262 20 35 72
Managing Editor : Jacques Tillier
Editor-in-Chief : Christophe Tézier
Number of copies circulated : 30 900
&ldquoJournal de l'île&rdquo was created on 31st August 1951. At that time, the managing editor, Henry Cazal was not willing to enter into politics. However, the newspaper remained the mouthpiece of the local legal rights for a long time. Today, the JIR aims to outdo its major competitor, &ldquoLe Quotidien.&rdquo, even if this means being sensationalistic.

Témoignages

Rue Gén Emile Rolland 97420 LE PORT
Tel. : 0262 55 21 21
Managing Editor : Jean-Marcel Courteaud
Number of copies circulated : 6 000
This newspaper was created in 1944 and aimed at standing as a &ldquodefence organ to the defenceless.&rdquo It used to be weekly, then, tri-weekly, and today it is a daily newspaper. &ldquoTemoignages&rdquo has shared the communist ideas since its creation.

Le Mémento

80 rue Pasteur 97468 ST DENIS CEDEX BP 397
Tel. : 0262 21 94 12
Since its foundation in 1971, this twice-weekly magazine has focused on Reunion Island&rsquos economic interests. At that time, this type of press was regarded as innovative as the only subjects discussed by the other newspapers were politics and news in brief (dealing with local and human interest stories).

Eco'Austral

3 rue Emile Hugot 97490 SAINT DENIS
Tel. : 0262 41 51 41
Managing Editor : Alain Foulon
Created in May 1987, it is the first business magazine in Reunion Island. Today, this monthly magazine is present in the entire Indian Ocean region.

Sources : "Histoire de la presse à la Réunion" - Karine Técher - Mario Serviable &ndash &ldquoArts Terres Créoles&rdquo Edition (1991)