Interview with Emmanuel Fleig, director of l'essentiel

What journey does a newspaper take before reaching your hands?

Emmanuel Fleig, director of essentiel.lu, shares the key steps: from topic selection to the delivery of the L’essentiel newspaper in the little blue boxes.

In Emmanuel Fleig's phone

Hello, my name is Emmanuel Fig. I have the privilege and the honor of leading L'essentiel since its launch in 2007.

Tell us about your first phone.

My first phone, I got it in 1993. It was a matte black phone, I think it was an Ericsson. In any case, it was quite distinctive, and there was no way to forget it due to its weight. It had the annoying tendency, with its protruding antenna, to tear through the pockets of suits or pants.

And now, are you more team Android or team Apple?

No hesitation: 100% iPhone! For the phone part, without a doubt, iPhone.

What’s your favorite social media?

I think I’m quite atypical in this matter because my favorite social network isn’t digital or virtual. It’s my family. I’m lucky to have five children, my close relatives, and my professional contacts. I admit I spend relatively little time on social media in general, as I prefer human interaction.

Do you get your news in print or digital version?

When you work in the press, you know that you’re always consuming news. From the moment I wake up, I glance at the latest headlines, then listen to the radio. When I arrive at the office, I’m lucky enough to have access to almost all of Luxembourg’s press. I switch again to digital news, often through push notifications and different apps. Then in the evening or during lunch, while driving, I listen to the news on the radio again. Basically, my day is punctuated by checking the news on websites or ...

From auditor to director of L’essentiel, what has your career path been?

It’s a pretty unique journey. I started in Luxembourg at one of the Big Four firms, where I went from auditor to manager. Then in 2000, I joined a client, namely the Editpress group, where I held various positions until 2005. That’s when we started thinking about launching a free newspaper here in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. We asked ourselves if there was an opportunity for a free paper in a country with 440,000 inhabitants at the time. After almost two years of reflection, we realized that...

L’essentiel is read by over 180,000 people every day. How does the editorial team choose the topics?

This question would be better for the editor-in-chief, who is responsible for the content. The main rule is that an article must align with the editorial line defined by the board of directors, for which the editor-in-chief is responsible. There’s often an early morning exchange between journalists to ensure the relevance of the subject. The topics are often driven by current events. Our defining feature is being concise, factual, precise, and, above all, non-partisan, neither politically, ideolo...

Has the job of a journalist become more complicated in the era of fake news?

Yes and no. I think in the era of fake news, a journalist's work is more important than ever. The work done by our journalists is checked and verified. We don’t publish any information without multiple validations and sources. So, when you read an article from L’essentiel, regardless of the medium, you can be sure it’s not fake news and that the information has been verified.

From topic selection to delivery in the blue boxes, what are the key steps?

It takes about 20 hours from the start of the editorial process until L’essentiel is available in the blue boxes, around 8 a.m. The first topics are discussed and then validated in the editorial conference. Journalists then start writing their articles for both print and the website, and also for the radio. Afterward, a dedicated team handles the layout. Once the layout is ready, proofreaders check for grammar and spelling errors. Throughout the day, some pages are revised or even "broken" in ou...

How do you see the future of your sector? Are you for or against AI?

I’d like to quote the comedian Coluche: “I’m neither for nor against, on the contrary.” AI is here, will be here, and we’ll have to work with it. It will make the role of journalists even more important because they will still need to verify information and ensure its credibility. AI is a tool that should be used wisely, but the intellectual and personal work will always remain the most important.

Your readers are very engaged. Do you have an unusual letter to share with us?

There would be thousands to share! But if I had to highlight one moment, it would be at the start of COVID. We were debating whether we should continue producing the paper. The entire team stood behind me, saying, “Yes, we have an important role.” And that same day, we received a lot of letters from readers saying, “Well done, guys, you’re still here, you’re still keeping us informed. It’s important that you keep going.” That was certainly one of the most emotional moments I’ve experienced during my 17 years at L’essentiel