GOOD NIOUZE: Born by Accident. Matured like a good wine.

Some ideas are born in a boardroom. Others come after months of market research, focus groups and PowerPoint presentations made by people who use words like synergy.

GOOD NIOUZE was born because Americans couldn’t pronounce my stupid idea.

L-E-S… N-I-O-U-Z-E-S. LES NIOUZES. You know… THE NEWS. Obviously.

Well, it's obvious, only if you’re French. By Pedrett

LES NIOUZES logo, designed by the world’s greatest designer, ChatGPT — September 21, 2026. The future was already written!

LET'S REWIND...

From April to September 2026, I had the great pleasure of collaborating with Le Petit Journal Los Angeles and, like most good things in my life, I absolutely didn’t see it coming.

It started with French Talent USA inviting me to see my old friend Manu Payet perform in San Diego. Twenty-one years after meeting in Paris, there we were again: Manu on stage, 200 French expats in the room, and absolutely nobody safe from his jokes. Especially us, the expats! For one night, San Diego felt like Paris just with palm trees, better parking and yoga at 6 a.m. That's Manu talking! I pulled out my phone, made a quick video... One show led to one story, one story led to another… and somehow I ended up writing for Le Petit Journal. And that’s where the trouble began...

Manu Payet and Franck Pedretti reunite in San Diego after 21 years

What a ride. Stories, interviews, World Cup madness, Scoopette our Smart car that became an unofficial staff member, miles of Southern California ended up in front of 2M viewers on beIN sports, kicking a ball in her trunk and most importantly, a wonderful bunch of journalists who made it feel like a slightly dysfunctional French family abroad.

Panenka contest - San Marcos Firestation #4 for GOOD MORNING AMERICA on beIN sports

Then, in September, I jumped ship. It just felt like time for something new. About a week later, I got the sad news: Le Petit Journal Los Angeles had suddenly lost access to the paper following a disagreement between LA and San Francisco. Paris pulled the plug, and overnight, an entire newsroom disappeared. Fourteen contributors were suddenly left without their paper. And somewhere in my French brain, something started cooking.

I came up with such a ridiculous idea: LES NIOUZES.

French. Funny. Slightly silly way to say THE NEWS with a French heavy accent!

I proudly wrote it down and showed it to my American family and about ten Americans.

Blank stares. Because Americans don’t read LES as “lay.” They read LESS. And when they get to N-I-O-U-Z-E-S, they do what any reasonable person would do: pronounce absolutely every letter: “Less Nee-oh-you-zess.” Silence...

In about twelve seconds, my future digital media empire had become a taco shop somewhere deep in Montana. Welcome to Less Nee-oh-you-zess. Two tacos, one burrito, free guac on Tuesdays. Fantastic! I even though of changing pyjamas for Scoopette and flipp it into a giant french fries cornet with a bunch of news article (that idea would stay, stand by please). So back to the drawing board.

Scoopette’s first LES NIOUZES mockup, by world-famous designer CHAT. sept.21, 2026

LES NIOUZES died. GOOD NIOUZE was born!

GOOD NIOUZE is a small independent local media project somewhere between Encinitas, Carlsbad and San Marcos, created by a former Hollywood PR and a French former TV host! No revolution. No mission to save journalism. No geopolitics before breakfast.

Just good stories about good people doing good things. Francophones, locals, dreamers, weirdos, chefs, artists, comedians, entrepreneurs… people with something to say, something to share, preferably something interesting. No politics. No doomscrolling. No daily reminder that civilization is collapsing. There are already 47 billion websites for that.

Here, we take the GOOD NIOUZE.

Behind this extremely sophisticated international media empire — currently consisting of a website, social media, cameras, too much chocolate and milk for one, way too much coffee for the other — are the Pedrettis: Franck, the French guy, and Giuliana, his very American wife. Former pro snowboarder, TV host and producer turned filmmaker, Franck runs the creative circus. Giuliana, event planner extraordinaire, makes sure the circus doesn’t actually burn down. And it almost did! Basically, he creates the chaos. She makes it look organized. Welcome to the Pedrettis.

Giuliana & Franck Pedretti

They though the shop was closed, no more babies after a beautiful family of 2 boys and one furry girl, here comes the last one... and apparently it's a GOOD NIOUZE!

Life is weird. Now for the twist. Remember LES NIOUZES? The name I threw in the trash after the Montana taco-shop incident? Well… through a third party, I later discovered that it somehow survived its trip to my bin.

"LES NIOUZES are launching Monday" with a full squad!

I guess we will have a lil sister or brother... Surprise! Not really. Are we mad?

Nah. I just learned a valuable lesson about intellectual property, friendship and entrepreneurship:

When you throw something in the trash, always remember to empty the trash.

But seriously, there’s room for everybody. Thousands of stories. Hundreds of fascinating people. And frankly, the world could use a few more people trying to make others smile.

So genuinely, good luck to LES NIOUZES for real!

Look at that. We haven’t even launched yet and we’re already promoting the competition. THAT's what good GOOD NIOUZE is all about!

No grand promises. No world-changing mission. Just stories, people, discoveries, laughs, a little French accent and hopefully a reason to open your phone without instantly regretting it.

Welcome to GOOD NIOUZE.

ALWAYS FRESH. ALWAYS FRENCH. Crispy stories from the French Community...

Our English is good. Our accent is better!

And before somebody accuses us of stealing that too… Give credit where credit is due: “Always Fresh, Always French” belongs to the one and only Laurent Vrignaud, the French Curator behind Moulin, who’s been saying it in his videos we created for years and who’s been inspiring us for the better part of a decade. So we did something crazy.

We simply asked him: “Laurent, can GOOD NIOUZE borrow one of your tagline?”

“Oui oui, mon ami Go for it!”

See? Sometimes we ask permission around here. 

Tribute to you mister LV, we shall see you very soon in these columns. Because speaking of GOOD NIOUZE, MOULIN is opening its 9th location soon. Keep this as a semi secret for now!

Now THAT is a GOOD NIOUZE.