A french Solution to a global problem

President Sarkozy has pledged €600m in emergency aid for the french newspaper industry and declared that every french 18-year-old would get a year’s free subscription to the paper of their choice to boost reading habits.

Its a strange model but could work if the overall cost base of producing newspapers is tackled. The detail is vague as to discrimination between online and offline media, but it may provide a temporary boost. One wonders if it comes with strings attached, state sponsorship of the news has a patchy history and would in general appear to be a bad idea.

• Industry news

• Recent Blog Posts

  • Personalized Newspapers- lets wait and see
  • The E-Reader Wars April 14, 2010
  • From hype to hero
  • Books outnumber games in the iphone app-store
  • How Open Source Frameworks for Social Publishing Eliminate Web Content Management System Shortfalls
  • Paywalls and public service broadcasters
  • The Ebook Hype curve?
  • Bill Amendments go Mainstream?
  • Jisc Ebook Observatory Report Summary
  • Undiscoverable = undiscovered?

• Archives

  • July 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • March 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007