100 years on, the duck has still not lost its political bite

With its old-school layout, unwieldy pages and heavy doses of slapstick humor, France's Canard Enchaine weekly may have seemed especially vulnerable as the internet upended the newspaper business.

But as its "fake job" claims against presidential hopeful Francois Fillon show, "The Shackled Duck", which last July celebrated 100 years in print, has hardly lost its bite.

Although circulation has fallen to about 400,000 copies in 2015 from 500,000 in 2010, its sales have spiked in tandem with its most explosive claims. The edition detailing the money paid to Fillon's wife, dubbed "Penelopegate", quickly sold out an estimated 500,000 copies.