French daily Le Figaro is to start charging for some of its online content in early 2010, according to Press News and 20minutes. Lefigaro.fr is the leading French news site, with 6.6 million unique visitors per month, according to Press News.

Press News reported that the paid content will not consist of what is currently available free; rather there will be new content for which the paper will charge. The paper plans to recruit new journalists to produce this, and a panel of users will be surveyed on possible developments.

20minutes spoke to editor of Lefigaro.fr, Luc de Barochez, who said that the decision to charge has been taken because advertising is not providing enough revenue. The site is not losing money, he stressed, but the advertising income does not provide enough for ongoing development. The paper is as yet undecided whether it will charge on a subscription basis or for individual articles.

As enthusiasm for charging online grows amongst Anglo-Saxon news sites, a similar feeling seems to be emerging in France. Publications such as daily Le Monde already charge - a monthly subscription of 6euro for full content in Le Monde's case - so it is not a foreign concept to the French public. The magazine L'Express is also considering a part-paid model, which would involve its archives, its special reports and its exclusivities. Pure online news source Rue89, largely funded via advertising and providing services such as site development, has been raising extra cash via reader donations.

Source: Press News, 20minutes