Faits et Documents

Far-right French political newspaper

Faits et Documents

Editor| Emmanuel Ratier
Categories| Newsletter
Frequency| Monthly
Publisher| Xavier Poussard
Founded| 15 March 1996; 28 years ago (1996-03-15)
Country| France
Website| www.faitsetdocuments.com

Faits et Documents is a French monthly newsletter published by the Édition et Documentation Parisienne company.[1]

The far-right journalist and editor Emmanuel Ratier founded this newsletter, which focuses primarily on French and international political and cultural news, relaying many conspiracy theories with a far-right and antisemitic bias. Following Ratier's death, the newsletter was taken over by close associates of Alain Soral.

## History

[edit]

Founded on March 15, 1996, it takes its name from the publishing house originally founded by Yann Moncomble, who sold the title to Ratier. The first subtitle of Faits et Documents was "Confidential Information Letter by Emmanuel Ratier," and after the death of its creator, it became "Confidential Information Letter Founded by Emmanuel Ratier".

That same year, it received the "Press Publication" approval from the Commission paritaire des publications et des agences de presse (CPPAP). In 2023, this approval raised questions from the media outlet StreetPress due to Faits et Documents' editorial line, but the CPPAP confirmed having granted it, stating: "In the absence of a criminal conviction of the publication director for statements made in its columns, the CPPAP cannot legally consider it to be 'antisemitic'".[2]

In the tradition of Henry Coston, the newsletter specializes in the study of French politics and influence networks. Through Faits et Documents, Ratier was "generally considered to be the heir of Henry Coston, another far-right cataloger who passed away in 2001, openly conspiratorial and antisemitic".[3]

In May 1999, the magazine hosted an exchange between Robert Faurisson and Bruno Gollnisch.

After the accidental death of Ratier on August 19, 2015, Arnaud Soyez, production director at TV Libertés, succeeded him as director of publication.

At the end of September 2017, Soyez handed over the directorship of this bi-monthly newsletter to Xavier Poussard.

In spring 2018, Faits et Documents was acquired by several close associates of Alain Soral: Vincent Moysan, Xavier Poussard, and Emmanuelle Keruhel, the majority shareholder. Sophie Ratier, one of Emmanuel Ratier’s three daughters, remained a shareholder. According to StreetPress, businessmen and former members of the Groupe union défense (GUD) Axel Loustau and Frédéric Chatillon contributed to this purchase.[4]

## Editorial line

[edit]

Faits et Documents is far-right and is distinguished by an unspoken antisemitic and anti-Masonic editorial stance.[5][6][7]

Among the close associates of Ratier and Faits et Documents is the antisemitic essayist Alain Soral, according to Libération. Political scientist Aurélien Montagner notes that "Ratier's work, especially his magazine Faits et Documents, gained significant popularity thanks to Soral and the dissemination capabilities of Égalité & Réconciliation," which often had the privilege of releasing new issues of Faits & Documents.[8]

Conspiratorial in nature, the magazine devotes a large portion of its "Lobbies" section primarily to the activities of various "groups" or sectors of society it labels as "lobbies" (Freemasonry, "Jewish lobby," progressive Catholics, homosexuals, etc.). For example, in December 2021, Faits et Documents helped spread a false transphobic rumor that Brigitte Macron, the wife of the French President, is a transgender woman. According to StreetPress, Faits et Documents was even the origin of this false claim.[citation needed]

The quality of its documentation is debated: Political scientist Jean-Yves Camus described Ratier, now deceased, as "fairly cautious with a genuine professional journalistic ability, despite minor errors".[This quote needs a citation] The magazine has been cited several times as a source for biographical information in the anti-Masonic book Les Frères invisibles by Ghislaine Ottenheimer and Renaud Lecadre.[citation needed] Thierry Rouault, author of a book on anti-Masonry, observed the use of Faits et Documents as a source in Les Frères invisibles and described the newsletter as a "dubious source".[This quote needs a citation] Political scientist Aurélien Montagner pointed out in his 2021 thesis: "This magazine claims to reveal confidential information [...]. We studied a number of issues over various periods and found that most of the information is actually biographical details presented as significant facts through speculative connections".[This quote needs a citation] The press has described the magazine's content as "fake news", "disinformation".[9]

According to Liberation, while the newsletter was considered serious within far-right circles during Ratier's leadership,[citation needed] it has not maintained the same reputation since his death.[10][failed verification]

## Publishing house

[edit]

A publishing house of the same name is associated with the bi-monthly newsletter and was also led by Ratier until his death. It follows the same ideological line, publishing numerous works critiquing "globalism" or the supposed significant influence of the Jewish community in France. In her thesis, Audrey Fontana argues that "all the titles [of the publishing house] present an exceptionally poor understanding of conspiracy theory".[11][failed verification][12][failed verification][13][failed verification][14][failed verification]

The publishing house has published several works and dictionaries by Ratier himself and by:[15]

* Dominique Setzepfandt, an anti-Masonic journalist and essayist;[16]
* Henry Coston, an antisemitic far-right journalist;
* Patrick Parment, contributor to the nationalist and "identitarian" magazine Synthèse nationale.[17]

In March from 2024, Candace Owens endorsed the false conspiracy theory of Xavier Poussard from Faits et Documents and Zoé Sagan who published first an "explicit video of the Government Spokesman Benjamin Griveaux masturbating", later posted online by Petr Pavlensky,[18][19] that Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, was secretly transgender. Owens stated she was "willing to stake my entire professional reputation on the fact that Brigitte Macron is in fact a man... The implications here are terrifying[20][failed verification]."

## See also

[edit]

* Jacqueline Baudrier
* Laurent Dandrieu
* Bertrand Delanoë
* Thierry Ehrmann
* Jean-Daniel Flaysakier
* Pierre Goldman
* Claude de Kemoularia

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Edition et Documentation Parisienne". Societe. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
2. ^ "La lettre d'extrême droite Faits & Documents bénéficie d'un agrément de « publication de presse » du ministère de la Culture". StreetPress.
3. ^ Albertini, Dominique. "Décès d'Emmanuel Ratier, documentaliste de l'extrême droite". Libération.
4. ^ "Derrière la fake news « Brigitte Macron est un homme », l'ombre du clan Le Pen". StreetPress.
5. ^ "Samuel Goujon, de l'école Centrale aux listes de juifs". Le Monde. August 23, 2021.
6. ^ d'Haguesher, La rédaction. "Dans l'Indre, un « Institut » à la gloire d'un militant antisémite – Haguesher".
7. ^ Forcari, Christophe. "Quand s'affichent de vieilles connivences trotsko-fachos. Le lambertiste Alexandre Hébert, ancien dirigeant de FO, donne libre cours à son europhobie dans l'hebdo de Le Pen". Libération.
8. ^ Montagner, Aurélien (December 4, 2020). "Le nationalisme conspirationniste soralien, une idéologie radicale et marginale de l'extrême droite française contemporaine" - via theses.fr.
9. ^ Média, Prisma (December 16, 2021). "Brigitte Macron victime d'une fake news transphobe : la Première dame va porter plainte - Gala". Gala.fr.
10. ^ Pezet, Jacques. "#JeanMichelTrogneux : quelle est l'origine de la fake news transphobe visant Brigitte Macron ?". Libération.
11. ^ "Les forces judéo-maçonniques et leur influence dans le monde moderne". December 12, 2023.
12. ^ "Transphobie et anti-macronisme: histoire de l'infox très virale visant Brigitte Macron". CharenteLibre.fr. December 21, 2021.
13. ^ Kridene, Hasna (December 20, 2021). "Brigitte Macron victime d'une improbable fake news sur sa véritable identité : la première dame porte plainte". Télé 2 semaines.
14. ^ "DPG Media Privacy Gate". myprivacy.dpgmedia.be.
15. ^ "Le trésor Ratier, les archives les plus convoitées de l'extrême droite". StreetPress.
16. ^ Paichard, Léo (September 9, 2015). "La diffusion d'une idéologie radicale par un mouvement d'extrême droite. Étude de l'association « Égalité et Réconciliation »". Dumas: 213 - via dumas.ccsd.cnrs.fr.
17. ^ "Les mystères de Paris". Le Figaro. February 7, 2012.
18. ^ https://www.nouvelobs.com/municipales-un-jour-une-ville/20200214.OBS24843/benjamin-griveaux-retire-sa-candidature-a-la-mairie-de-paris-apres-la-diffusion-d-une-video-intime.html
19. ^ https://www.conspiracywatch.info/le-notwitterday-cote-conspi.html
20. ^ Ireland-Piper, Danielle (August 30, 2024). "US conservative Candace Owens is set to tour Australia. Can the government stop her?". The Conversation.