Le Huffington Post Debuts In France

The Huffington Post debuted its first foreign language edition Monday with the launch of Le Huffington Post, a French language site published in partnership with Le Monde and LNEI (Les Nouvelles Editions Indépendantes).

The site was officially unveiled to members of the media at a press conference Monday morning at Le Monde headquarters in Paris. There, Huffington Post Media Group President and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington, Le Monde CEO Louis Dreyfus, Le Huffington Post Editorial Director Anne Sinclair, Le Huffington Post Editor-in-Chief Paul Ackermann, Le Huffington Post publisher David Kessler and LNEI owner Matthieu Pigasse explained the new site's mission and vision to more than 250 journalists.

Huffington explained that the site would embody The Huffington Post's DNA, combining the best journalistic practices of traditional media with the transparency, immediacy and engagement of the new media -- all with a distinctly French sensibility.

Sinclair, who is married to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn, faced questions about a potential conflict of interest regarding her husband, whose hotel maid sex scandal placed him in the headlines for much of 2011.

"Everything that should be on the front page will be on the front page," Sinclair assured reporters. "I don't think it'll be the core news story of 2012 but if it were it would be treated as such. There's no conflict of interest," she said.

"I do not mix private and professional life," she added.

Huffington said she had "long admired" Sinclair professionally as a journalist, and added that she has gotten to know and admire her personally in recent months.

"Every woman in her private life if not her public life has been through setbacks, ordeals, problems, and so when we see a woman who comes into the arena again and gets engaged in what's happening in the world it sort of gives hope and courage to every other woman," she said.

Below, see photos from the morning and a video from the group's entrance to the press conference:

Those who understand French can also watch the video report below from BFM TV:

Comments

[Kenneth T Tellis]

09:05 AM on 02/08/2012

Is Arianna HUFFINGTON Headed down the tubes with her extension of Huffington Post?

[fearlesseight]

11:50 AM on 01/25/2012

This is a travesty- Anne Sinclair does not belong in an editorial position anywhere unless she has had a lobotomy- This poor woman must be pitied to defend an accused rapist/bully =Do you all realize that she condones the actions of her husband Dominique Strauss-Kahan-to have a woman who justify's this misogynist's sicko documented behavior editorialize anything other than her oppressed life is totally senseless! What have you done Arianna !? This is a real blow to women everywhere- i would have expected more from you- ESPECIALLY you! Do you all really think that this is going to go away! Just because Anne Sinclair has a trust fund does that entitle her to this position!? She should use her money & find a good psychoanalyst ~

[crimsinhil]

01:29 AM on 01/24/2012

WOW..... I was under the impresson that HuffyPost originated from there....

Maybe it just belongs there.... SHOCK LE BLUE!!!!!! LOL

[cafealait]

11:30 PM on 01/23/2012

Magnifique'! So glad AOL is merged with Huffington Post. Maybe some poor uneducated racist redneck may learn a thing or tow about a world outside of the USA.

[surfandshop]

05:59 PM on 01/23/2012

"Sinclair, who is married to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn, faced questions about a potential conflict of interest regarding her husband, whose hotel maid sex" ..was outrageous.
I doubt this woman's ability to be an editor..she cannot edit her own life!

[sfsmurf]

05:46 PM on 01/23/2012

Wonderful! I am looking forward to a Spanish language Huffington Post edition in the future.

[surfandshop]

05:39 PM on 01/23/2012

............ "married to former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn". ...............at least arianna told the truth about who she is shilling for this debut!

[SuperDW]

05:02 PM on 01/23/2012

Reddit fans will chuckle at the headline.

[Scott Bruneau]

05:00 PM on 01/23/2012

"First foreign language site?" Oh come on! What do you think they speak down there in Canada and out west in the UK? FOREIGN LANGUAGES TO US AMERIKINS!

[jah999de]

02:51 PM on 01/23/2012

und wann kommt die Huffington Post??

[LynnW49]

02:27 PM on 01/23/2012

Oh, good. Now we'll get to learn how to say "SHOCKER!", "LASHES OUT!", "REVEALED!", "RAGES!", FLIPS OUT!", and "surge" in French.

[surfandshop]

05:39 PM on 01/23/2012

don't worry the french will never let it happen. I could get wine at the paris mc donalds, but no coke!

[Dunorcaille]

02:13 PM on 01/23/2012

Congratulations on the launch of the Huffington Post in France this morning. It's a good initiative from Arianna Huffington As well as Anne Sinclair who has been appointed to manage the new site. However, I can't help noticing a sort of contradictory (if not hypocritical) comment by Arianna Huffington this morning in Paris. She said (quote: “For me, today's launch is the culmination of a lifetime of loving France "). Strange! I seem to recall that, a few months ago, on the Pierce Morgan show (CNN), she was incensed when admitting that the people of France have a greater upward mobility than the people of the US. If she claims a lifetime of loving France, as she declared this morning, in Paris, why was she so outraged when reporting on the Pierce Morgan show that France has a better shot at upward mobility tan does the United States? She should have been happy about it or, at the very least, be neutral. She could have simply made the point without showing anger about it, as if France is not deserving of that status. Does Arianna Huffington really love France?

[rkemani]

12:37 AM on 01/24/2012

Perhaps she was preparing for her US Huff Post debut to show that she is an admirer of the US ? Just an hypothesis.

[Dunorcaille]

02:08 PM on 01/24/2012

Your theory does not hold simply because the CNN interview I am referring to aired just a few months ago (October, November 2011). The US Huffington Post (the original one) has been in existance for at least two years, so Arianna was not preparing for her US Huff Post debut, as you are suggesting. I am just anoyed at people claiming to love France when everything else they say or do points to the contrary.

[CapitalGhost]

01:04 PM on 01/23/2012

She does well in the Socialist market.

[sparkybrown7877]

12:35 PM on 01/23/2012

Formidable!

[MED1025]

12:01 PM on 01/23/2012

C'est bon.