Saturday, April 20, 2024

Reinvent the spirit of “Science & Vie” in the new magazine “Epsiloon”

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Maria Gill
Maria Gill
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It was paid for due to a denial of ownership by a contribution to Reworld, the editorial team at Science & Life Returns to the scientific press from another door. This one is called EpsilonA new monthly newsletter was unveiled last week, and the first issue will go on newsstands at the end of June. About fifteen former journalists from Science & Life Part of the project, eight of them will be permanent employees. On top of them is their former editor-in-chief, Herve Borier, who left Reworld in September 2020 after 21 years at the title.

To allow birthEpsilonA newspaper editor hired her. It is Emmanuel Monnier, Abed Science & Life From his teenage years, who came to their aid. Its youth-oriented group Unique Heritage Media (UHM) runs Fleurus Presse brands (Understand everything, what a story(And Disney magazines)Mickey Magazine, Scrooge Magazine). More than one million euros will be invested in the launch of this new title.

The hope is that the number of subscribers will eventually reach 25,000 to ensure the viability of the project. A pre-subscription campaign was actually launched last Monday on the crowdfunding platform Ulule, with the goal of 5,000 pre-signups. On Sunday May 16, this goal was largely surpassed, with 27,265 subscribers registered.

We believe science speaks better in the world. Researchers reveal this fact that is always ridiculous, wonderful and incomprehensible.

In short, the horizon is brighter than it was in Reworld, as several months of tensions with shareholders led, at the beginning of April, to close nearly all members of the editorial board. A somewhat classic mass launch in the magazine press kit, which usually pushes journalists overseas to replace them with content managers. In response to this situation, the Ministry of Culture launched a mission in December on conditions for aid to reach the press.

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A report was submitted in mid-March recommending linking it to the presence of journalists on the editorial board. Consultations are under way between editors and journalists’ union organizations with the aim of the long-awaited reform. AviC epsilonManaging Editor, Herve Poirere, wants to demonstrate by example this need for “the independence of journalists, first and foremost, in the service of readers”. to me ReleaseIt introduces the editorial project for this new science month and lays out a bitter account of the struggle to save Science & Life.

What is the origin of this new magazine?

There have been quite a few previous episodes [cette] ad. The first was my exit from Science & LifeBecause of questions about independence and means. I had to close the editorial department door. Very quickly, Emmanuel Monier, a frozen lover of Science & Life A major contributor to UHM will contact me. I was too sensitive to approach him, but have not followed it since, and on my own, I couldn’t do anything.

My departure was followed by the departure of my assistant, Mathilde Fontes, who was supposed to take over the newspaper. You haven’t had it since Reworld decided to hand it over to someone overseas. Once Mathilde left, we started thinking together. When we started, after a few weeks, seeing almost all of the in-house journalists and the majority of the outside freelancers were leaving, I resumed contact with Emmanuel Monier.

We told him we could make sure there was a motivated, experienced and available team. On both sides, we said to each other: “Let’s try a new brand.” A new science journal, with high journalistic requirements and passion for the mind, with the conviction that science is incredibly beautiful, funny, sparkling.

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Will this be the editorial line forEpsilon ?

The tradition of science journalism is to simplify some complex topics. It is the basis of generalization. In a way, we don’t want to be educated and supportive. Epsilon You want to be a newspaper for current events that science sees. We believe science speaks better in the world. Researchers reveal this fact that is always ridiculous, wonderful and incomprehensible. We are seeing it more since the emergence of COVID-19. So we want to meet researchers who are studying this reality with their microscopes. It is a guarantee that you always have new stories. And in a comfortable way more open than Science & Life or Sciences & In order to reach.

The newspaper that we wrote in Science & LifeIt was a lot of fun, but it had its flaws as well. There was the weight of years, of tradition, compulsory sections. Not many people dared to go there because it scared them. So we will try to be more welcoming and less terrifying. In some cases, we want to take the opposite approach to pedagogy: in 5G, the electric car or bitcoin, which are intrinsically complex topics, we don’t want to simplify them, but give all the dimensions of this complexity. We do not want to be simpler to the world.

Does this new magazine signal the end of your battle to save Science & Life ?

We abandoned the idea of ​​the ability to save Science & Life From himself. We tried to convince our shareholders that the decisions they make were bad for this wonderful hundred year old newspaper brand. We put in a lot of effort, and encouraged them to sell. But we have noticed the fact that the newspaper, of course, belongs to its readers and the journalists who do it, but above all it belongs to its shareholders. We decided to make our way elsewhere, but by being a direct competitor somewhere. This way we save a soul Science & Life, While reinventing it.

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