Le Courrier facts for kids

Le Courrier is a French-language daily newspaper that started in Geneva, Switzerland. It first came out on January 5, 1868, as a Sunday newspaper.

Geneva was mostly Protestant at the time. However, Le Courrier was created by a small group of Catholics. From the very beginning, the newspaper focused strongly on Catholic values and ideas.

History of Le Courrier

Becoming a Daily Newspaper

In 1892, Le Courrier changed from a Sunday paper to a daily newspaper. This meant it was printed every day of the week.

Changes After 1907

In 1907, Geneva saw a big change: the separation of Church and state. This meant the government and the church became separate. After this, the number of copies of Le Courrier printed each day dropped quite a lot.

Shifting Focus: From Conservative to Left-Wing

For many years, until 1923, Le Courrier was known for its Christian and conservative views. This meant it supported traditional ideas and values.

But in 1923, a person named Christian Levraz changed the newspaper's direction. Le Courrier began to focus more on social issues and became a left-wing newspaper. This meant it supported ideas like social equality and helping those in need.

The Catholic Church was not very happy with this new left-wing direction. In 1996, the Church decided to stop supporting Le Courrier. This was because they felt the newspaper's views were too different from their own.

Le Courrier Today

Today, Le Courrier works together with another Catholic newspaper called La Liberté, which comes from Fribourg.

In 2019, between 7,000 and 8,000 copies of Le Courrier were printed every day. It is the only newspaper that is printed in Geneva.