Paper dreams.

The article reports on the newspaper business in Paris. The dismissal of Jean de Belot, editor of Le Figaro, France's leading centre-right paper, by its new owner, Serge Dassault, and his replacement by Nicolas Beytout, previously editor of Les Echos, have rocked the Parisian press. Reporters complained of interference. Then Mr Dassault was elected to the Senate for President Jacques Chirac's ruling party. Journalists were more than a little troubled. Last month, in a secret ballot, 93% backed a resolution affirming their right to "denounce publicly" any attack on their independence. So imagine the surprise when Mr Dassault swept out Mr de Belot, along with the paper's director-general and the group's boss. Mr Beytout promised journalists at Le Figaro that he had similar guarantees of independence from Mr Dassault, and that the paper would in future not endorse any political party or candidate. But modernising the corporate culture is not his only challenge at Le Figaro. Like most of the French press, it is losing readers. Since 2002, according to Diffusion Contrôle, a press auditor, circulation has dropped by 3%, to 347,174. The paper is expected to lose money in 2004. The cyclical ad downturn has combined with secular trends that menace newspapers everywhere: ageing readers, plus competition from free papers, television and the internet.