In the Cher, the Press Center preserves four centuries of history of French journalism

The entry of viticulture into the era of plastic materials. The title makes the front page of an issue of Wine monitor from 1965. Solange carefully handles the yellowed pages of the newspaper and goes through the articles. “If the copy is damaged, I will send it to Marie-Noëlle for repair.”

This October afternoon, several volunteers gathered at the Châtelet Press Center (Cher) to sort and inventory various journalistic publications, offered by a company in Saône-et-Loire. Charles has been peeling the Nièvre Journala tri-weekly launched in 1848. “I am in 1852, Napoleon III has just declared himself emperor,” laughs the retiree, who joined the center a year ago, after the end of his professional activity.

Retired is also the condition of Pascal Roblin, founder of the Press Center. Since leaving the marketing department of the Center France media group, this enthusiast has devoted his daily life to venue management. “I started collecting newspapers at the age of 12 and I never stopped,” he says. Based in Cher, he and his wife, Marie-Noëlle, got involved in local community life, until Pascal had the idea of ​​founding his own association dedicated to the press.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the Maisonnais town hall gave him a disused presbytery to store his collection. Thirteen years later, the Châtelet nursing home in turn offered him its old buildings. With 140 members, the Press Center now extends over two sites, a few kilometers apart. “The inventory is underway, but we estimate we have more than two million archives,” enthuses Pascal.

From 1631 to the present

The Maisonnais premises now host a permanent exhibition on the history of the press. It begins with the presentation of a period copy of The Gazettelaunched in 1631 by Louis XIII’s doctor, Théophraste Renaudot (who left his name to the famous literary prize). “This weekly marked the birth of the written press in France,” explains Pascal. Further, an edition of The people’s friendthe diary of Jean-Paul Marat, looks at his rival The King’s Friend : here are the visitors immersed in the political ferment of the Revolution!

At Châtelet, the old rooms of the nursing home have been converted to accommodate the archives. Here, a room reserved for Figaroa newspaper initially satirical, before becoming a general daily. There, a room smelling of old paper, devoted to the weekly press before 1944 “which has almost entirely disappeared, since the vast majority of titles collaborated with Vichy and were banned at the Liberation”, indicates Pascal.

The shutters are closed to preserve the precious archives from light and humidity. Each room has a workstation, to allow you to study this or that number. Because the center’s ambition is to bring these publications to life and to make them known, true reflections of an era. “We offer a search service for anyone who asks us, on site or remotely,” explains Pascal. The association receives almost daily arrivals of old newspapers, sent by individuals, editorial offices or libraries, which must then be classified and archived.

A living resource

The center has thus set up themed exhibitions, notably on agriculture, world wars or fake news (fake news, editor’s note), and produced various works from it, selling several thousand copies per year. In a few weeks, Pascal will travel to Orléans to provide training on the history of agriculture to members of the Loiret regional directorate of agriculture, food and forestry. “But our final pride is to have been invited by the YouTuber Pierre Croce to participate in his daily show,” says the founder, recounting his meeting with the young videographer to nearly four million subscribers. Released a week earlier, the video has more than 50,000 views and enthusiastic comments.

With a full-time employee and two civic service collaborators, the projects are multiplying: Pascal Roblin now wishes to invite visitors to the center to extend their stay, in order to also introduce them to all the cultural riches of Berry.