The company archives of major French newspaper publishing organisations of the late nineteenth-century contain relatively little data concerning news values. Many of the leading Paris-based dailies relied heavily on the Havas new-organisation, while sometimes trying to compete against it. Using the archives of the Havas and (London-based) Reuters news agencies, and those of some of the first French journalist associations (circa 1880) in conjunction with journalists' memoirs, contemporary novels, and articles published in the press, this article tries to capture the atmosphere of Parisian newsrooms.