The magazine was established in 1950 as '
. It became ' in 1953 and '
in 1954. The name ' was adopted in 1964. The 1964 incarnation of the magazine was founded by
Jean Daniel and
Claude Perdriel. Since 1964, '
has been published by Groupe Nouvel Observateur on a weekly basis It is often referred to as ' for short.
Franz-Olivier Giesbert joined the '''' in 1971 as a journalist in the political department and then became a reporter. In 1985, Giesbert became the editorial director. Patrick Fiole and Christina Sourieau launched the magazine's internet site in 1999. The magazine's new charter, adopted in June 2004 (on the 40th anniversary of its foundation), outlines the paper's principles: "The '''' is a cultural and political weekly whose orientation belongs within the general
social-democratic movement. A tradition ever concerned with combining respect for freedom and the quest for social justice." Alongside its editorial activities, the Nouvel Observateur group bought the online news site
Rue89 in December 2011, becoming its only shareholder. In January 2014, the owners of '
, Pierre Bergé, Xavier Niel, and Matthieu Pigasse, purchased a 65% stake in the magazine. On 12 March 2014 the two co-directors of the press group, Laurent Joffrin and Nathalie Collin, resigned because the ' was being sold to
Le Monde. On 23 October 2014, the magazine was renamed
L’Obs and its layout was changed to include in-depth reports on investigations, stories and discussions of ideas. Its current editorial board is headed by two of its co-founders, Jean Daniel and Claude Perdriel, two editors-in-chief,
Laurent Joffrin and , and the director general, Jacqueline Galvez.
André Gorz and other journalists who had left ''
L'Express'' helped to found the publication. The holding company Le Monde Libre, the majority shareholder of
Groupe Le Monde, owns 99% of the weekly
Le Nouvel Obs. On 21 March 2024, the magazine changed its name from to . ==Related publications==