"My Free Newspaper" launched for youths in France

The French press is among the least profitable in Europe, bound by limited sales points, strong unions, the highest printing costs in Europe and a distribution monopoly. The control of the latter is particularly constricting and it was announced this morning that no French newspapers would be on sale in kiosks today due to a 24-hour strike staged by France's number one distributor Nouvelles Messageries de la Presse Parisienne.

Readership in France is especially low among young people and according to a government study, only 10 per cent of those aged 15 to 24 read a paid-for newspaper daily in 2007, down from 20 per cent a decade earlier.

Speaking at the 8th World Conference on Young Readers in Prague last month, Jeanne-Emmanuelle Hutin, a member of the Directors Committee at Ouest France and Co-chair of the French Presidential Youth-Press Commission spoke of the dire situation in France: "What do the publishers want? They want to thwart the large-scale flight of young readers, " she said. "The situation in France is alarming: from one generation to the next, young people are less likely to read newspapers. It is vital to reverse this trend."

In January the government announced subsidies totalling 600 million euros over three years to try change this course.  Following the results of a study carried out in 2006, where 41 different French regional newspapers (including Hutin's own Ouest France) introduced this free paper concept for 18-24 year olds and observed success the government announced it would implement a similar scheme nation-wide.

Fifty-nine publications are participating in the new project and include titles ranging from Le Monde and Le Figaro, to more local publications, as well as the Paris-based International Herald Tribune, the global edition of The New York Times and even sports daily, L'Équipe.

The overall cost of the subscriptions are to be split between the government and publishers, with publishers providing the newspapers for free and the government paying for distribution, something expected to total about €15 million over three years.

The high level of government interest in the plight of the French newspaper industry has aroused local suspiscions with "the public trust in the media at an all-time low". The Guardian reported in January that people had little respect for news publications "in a climate where politicians rewrite their own interviews for publication and the president's powerful business friends, from construction to arms manufacturing, own several major papers or TV stations. "

None-the-less, the government said the program has already generated incredible interest, with 30,000 people  signing up for their newspapers with individual publications via a preregistration program.

The government plans to further promote the program with an advertising campaign aimed at young readers and their parents.

Source: WAN-IFRA, The New York Times