“The government of France is taking unprecedented measures to help the ailing French print industries. According to an AP story, French president Nicolas Sarkozy — consistent with recommendations from a 3-month study of the industry’s health released January 8 — announced:
- Free one-year newspaper subscriptions will be given to all French teenagers on their 18th birthdays;
- A nine-fold increase will be made to support for newspaper deliveries; and
- the French government will double its annual print advertising outlay.”
Dramatic innovation is hard to come by in established industries. Perhaps today’s federal government budget will have similar innovations to assist Canadian newspaper publishers?
And what of books? Should all Canadian teenagers be given a free book on their 18th birthdays? What about no postage required for book shipments? And, books with advertising?
It will be interesting to watch whether French newspaper content will change to appeal more to their emerging young audiences, though that begs the question why newspapers have not been more responsive to younger readers? News in graphic novel form? Pages more cartoons?
[full blog post about the new French program on Canadian Magazines]
