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Online Journalism News

French pro-am news website Rue89 gets million euro investment

Posted: 04/07/08 By: Oliver Luft
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Rue89, an online-only pro-am news site launched last year by a team of former Libération journalists, has received a Euro 1.1m (£871,200) development fund from investors.

The site, founded by four former journalists and bloggers from the French leftist daily Libération, sprang to the immediate national attention at launch last May by breaking news that a French newspaper had suppressed a story on the president Nicolas Sarkozy's then wife Cecilia.

Its alternative approach to presenting the news online, including taking up to a third of its content from non-journalists, now regularly attracts 650,000 monthly visitors domestically.

The site has also spun off into local news by launching a sister site for the Marseille region last month with further local launches in France also expected.

This week injection of cash will be used to develop the site further and increase awareness of the title. It will also net the five new investors a quarter share in the business.

The investors include: the Halmahera family (€ 100,000), journalist Khedaoudj Zemmouri (€100,000), production company Midi-Minuit (€200,000), internet firm Hi-Media (€300,000), Verdoso Media (€300,000) and further monies from individual 'friend' investors (€100,000).

The four founders, Arnaud Aubron, Pierre Haski, Laurent Mauriac and Pascal Riché, still maintain the controlling interest in the business with over half of the capital. The web development team that built the sites and other 'friend' investors owns the remaining quarter.

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