Romain Rouillard / Photo credit: THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
An explosive diary for a day like no other. This Thursday, February 29, a date that only appears once every four years in the calendar, appears on newsstands, The Sapper’s Candle. “A real fake newspaper. A sort of funny hoax, in a playful, humorous tone”, describes, in a few words, its editor-in-chief Jean d’Indy, who actually works in public relations. This newspaper, only published on February 29, takes up all the key current events and treats them in an offbeat, sometimes sarcastic tone.
First published in 1980, The Sapper’s Candle is printed in 30,000 copies, “with the means at hand”. But very quickly, success was achieved. “After two days, we called them saying, ‘That’s it, everything is sold, we have to reprint.’ They were stunned because they didn’t think it would work,” says Jean d’Indy. Due to logistical difficulties at the time, particularly in restarting the presses, the newspaper was not reprinted, but the idea remained and its success grew. In 2020, 120,000 copies were sold.
“We meet at the bistro”
Composed of around twenty pages, La Bougie du Sapeur presents itself as a classic daily newspaper with articles organized by section and even supplements. The Sapper’s Candle sporting, in this Olympic year, but also The Sapper’s Candle Sunday, when February 29 falls on the last day of the week, or La Bougie du zapper, a TV supplement. “We also slip in some fake news, but they are visible. We don’t need to put an acronym to specify that it is false,” adds Jean D’Indy.
To select the information that appears in these quadrennial publications, significant selection work is required. “We listen to the radio, we read the newspapers, we look at social networks, we take notes, we cut out articles and we put it all in a box. Then, we meet at the bistro, because we don’t have offices or newsrooms, and we look at everything that can be funny. Because there are things that were funny three and a half years ago and which are no longer funny at all today”, points out Jean D ‘Indy.
Funds donated to a charity
The editorial team, entirely voluntary, is made up of around ten contributors, “a group of friends”, some of whom have worked as journalists in the past. “Serious journalists,” says Jean D’Indy, laughing. “One of the pillars of the newspaper was notably editor-in-chief of BFM Business”.
And what about the name associated with this newspaper like no other? “It comes from Sapeur Camembert who was a fairly famous comic strip character from the last century. And he celebrated his birthday, and therefore blew out his candle, on February 29,” explains Jean D’Indy.
A sarcastic newspaper, built around humor, which still contains serious information. “We don’t make it a matter of money, otherwise we would have a little difficulty finding our way. But everything that remains, once we have put aside to print the next issue, we give it to a charity that deals with autism,” explains Jean D’Indy. To obtain this newspaper of around twenty pages, you will have to pay 4.90 euros. A sum greater than that of a traditional newspaper, but which amounts to “0.0033 euros per day”, supports the editor-in-chief, in a laughing tone, like the newspaper he manages.