Bertin, Louis François (1766–1841)

French journalist, known as the ‘father of French journalism’. He founded the Journal des débats in 1799.

In 1801 he was banished for suspected royalist tendencies but returned to France three years later, taking up the management of the paper which Napoleon had meanwhile renamed Journal de l'Empire. Government censorship and control followed, although Bertin regained possession in 1814. He died a supporter of the royalist cause.