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Bienvenue to The Local in France

For almost a decade now, The Local has been delivering accessible European news to millions of Anglophone readers all round the world – but we're now about to get even better.

Published: 4 February 2013 17:21 CET

Bienvenue to The Local in France

The Local's team in France (l-r): Dan Mac Guill, James Savage, Ben McPartland. Photo: Alexandre Chinon

Today, the trial period ends and our English-language website launches in France. Next month, watch out for our Spain site, with an Italy edition soon to follow.

Led by Editor Ben McPartland, our Paris-based team will dedicate itself to providing comprehensive on-the-ground coverage of French daily news as it breaks.

Already, their stories have attracted tens of thousands of readers and our story on France’s ban on the word “hashtag” was even scooped up by Time magazine.

“There is never a dull day here,” said McPartland. “France is a great news patch and one of the most interesting countries to cover as a journalist.”

“Whether it’s about the food, literature, art, film or sport, everyone has opinions about France,” he added. “Our job is to inform these opinions with a steady flow of engaging, balanced reporting.”

The Local's CEO Paul Rapacioli – who founded the website in 2004 with James Savage – added: “Since France is at the heart of the complex community of Europe, our team in Paris has a great responsibility.”

“Our coverage of France’s news will be comprehensive and original,” he promised.

In just eight years The Local, which has its HQ in Stockholm, has grown from a weekly newsletter in 2004 with a readership of 12 to an internationally recognized and trusted news source. With the financial backing of Sjätte AP-fonden, Almi Invest and private investors, The Local was able to expand to Germany, opening a Berlin office in 2008.

Today, more than 2.5 million people visit The Local’s Swedish, German and Swiss sites each month.

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What The Local’s new design means for you

After several years with the same design we decided last year that it was high time to give the site a makeover. For one thing we wanted it to look nicer, but most importantly the new design is aimed at making it quicker and easier for you to find what you need without hassle.

You will notice, for example, that the site has a new menu bar that will direct you to the most popular categories. The example below is taken from our France edition but you will find variations on the same menu items on all our country sites.

You won’t be surprised to learn that we are hoping to retire the Covid-19 category as soon as possible.

On the desktop version of the site, if you hover your mouse over a category title you will find some of the most important related topics.

If you click on one of the main categories in the menu bar you will find links to what are currently the most popular related topics.

On the homepage, each article’s main topic will be displayed above the headline so you can quickly click or tap your way to more articles on that subject.

You will also find more topics at the bottom of every page that will take you to related articles.

One significant change is the introduction of a feature that will automatically load up a new article for you once you have got to bottom of the page.

Similarly, articles (like this one) that are not affected by the paywall will show an unlocked padlock.

If you want to search for a particular topic the search tool is prominently displayed at the top left of the desktop and mobile sites. On desktop it’s just under the dropdown menu you can use to switch editions.

As a members of The Local you will be able to quickly access your account details and update your newsletter preferences using the buttons in the top right.

If you are not yet a member you can cast your eyes to the top of the site to see offers that are such good value you will wonder what you’re waiting for. Now really is as good a time as any to join.

READ ALSO: How The Local’s members are helping us get better

We have also worked hard on significantly speeding up the site, which we hope will make your visits to The Local more enjoyable.

You are sure to notice plenty of other changes as you get familiar with the new design. But one thing that hasn’t changed is our commitment to producing independent journalism that leans heavily on dialogue with our readers.

With this in mind, we would love to hear from you if you have any feedback on the new design or suggestions for improvements. You can drop us a line at [email protected] or, if you are a member, you will as always be able to let us know what you think in the comments below the article.

Thanks for reading, and we hope you like the new look!

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