France to give free newspaper subscriptions to teens

[Ichingcarpenter]

Source: Agence France-Presse

France will offer all 18-year-olds a free daily copy of the newspaper of their choice, President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday, announcing a package of measures to help the beleaguered press.
French newspapers were already struggling to compete for readers with the Internet and broadcast journalism even before the economic downturn took a bite out of advertising revenue, and several are close to collapse.

In response to the crisis, which some commentators have branded a threat to French democratic debate, the government organised a national conference on the future of the newspaper industry.

"The habit of reading the press takes hold at a very young age," Sarkozy said, presenting the conclusions of several months of talks to an audience of media executives, journalists and officials in Paris

Read more: http://ph.news.yahoo.com/afp/20090123/tls-france-media-industry-youth-aeafa1b.html

[Robb]

1. Interesting way to help print media

...although print is already on the "quaint" side. :shrug:

[GodlessBiker]

2. LOL. Like crack. Give it to the kids for free, then charge them once they're hooked.

It won't work.

[BattyDem]

3. It's a nice gesture and teens should be encouraged to read about current events ...

but every teen I know gets all the information they want or need from the Internet. They don't even research school reports at the library anymore ... unless they go to the library to use the computer to access the internet.

This won't help sales at all. Today's teens live in an electronic age - they know nothing else. Print media means nothing to them. And it's not just teens. I'm 41 and I can't remember the last time I purchased an actual newspaper.

[silverojo]

21. I stopped buying newspapers LONG before internet access

Waste of trees, biased bullshit...never saw the bargain in them.

[DavidDvorkin]

4. They'll still prefer the Internet.

[ck4829]

5. It'd be awesome if they all want subscriptions for the "Paris Business Review"

[sasquatch]

8. .

:rofl:

[EFerrari]

6. This is an interesting idea. n/t

[McCamy Taylor]

7. This is why people in France talk about philosophy, politics, and arts

and people in the US talk about American Idol and NASCAR.

[Mudoria]

10. Umm yeah,,

I'm sure the French peasant out in the countryside is worried about discussing the arts and philosophy instead of a better way to shovel the pig shit he's looking at.

[NeedleCast]

12. Tour de France?

No on in France ever talks about it, I'm sure...

yeesh.

[Posteritatis]

14. French high culture != all of France (nt)

[EFerrari]

22. We have a big wide anti-intellectual streak, that's for sure. n/t

[Jkid]

9. Why can't we do this in America?

My high school used to distribute the Baltimore Sun daily. And the University of Maryland not only distribute one but three newspapers to college students in libraries and in the cafeterias, (USA Today, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post).

[cyclezealot]

13. Should do it in Detroit.

They don't even have a daily newspaper anymore. Only on the weekends, plus Friday. . My prediction. The New York Times will help to fill that void.

[Jkid]

16. They still publish on the weekdays

They only eliminated home delivery for weekdays except Friday.

[cyclezealot]

24. as far as I am concerned

if you can't get it at your doorstep or at the newspaper stand.
they don't exist.

[Sisaruus]

19. We used to get the NY Times.

We all became addicted to the crossword puzzle.

[Politicalboi]

11. This ain't gonna work

Who reads newspapers anymore anyway. Save the trees and let them get subscriptions on the internet only. Make it part of your internet service if you want it and pay for it that way. We should do that too.

[LiveLiberally]

15. I agree with you....

The goal should be to get them to READ period and to support the print media as it transitions to the digital future. But I confess I'll miss the hard copy on Sunday mornings....

[Jkid]

17. But what about people who can't even afford dial-up?

The only option is for the government to install lifeline internet, preferably broadband.

[applejuice]

18. My guess is most of them won't bother taking them up on it.

Also delivery won't be included in this. Unlike in the US where a delivered paper is often cheaper there is an EXTRA charge on top of the paper for delivery in Europe. That won't be included I bet.

Knowing 18 year olds I bet many to most will just stick with their internets.

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. Wrong

"The president said the newspapers themselves would provide free copies for 18-year-olds, while the state would cover the cost of delivering them to many thousands of homes."

From the article.

[applejuice]

23. You don't have to sound so nasty about it! I'm sure you just could have said something like:

"Actually they are paying for delivery too."

"Wrong." just sounds mean.

It was not mentioned in the OP that they were. No I did not read the whole article, but I doubt everyone else did either. And I saw no rule that I couldn't comment without reading the whole thing.

I never stated what I was saying as fact. I said "My GUESS is..."

I'm happy to have a conversation about things, and concede when I am wrong, but your tone isn't very nice.

I really have to get used to the "ettiquette" around here. It seems it can be very unfriendly at times, with people just seeming to try to "score points" against others etc. The more I see it the more I think this place maybe isn't worth the trouble. :/

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Fair enough - I just thought I'd save you the bother of reading too much

after all, reading the article had proved too time consuming for you :evilgrin:

Seriously, DU rules say you can't copy more than 4 paragraphs from a copyright source (because forums have been sued for copying entire articles before). So you should never assume that all details are in an OP - just look at the article, if you're interested enough to comment on it. There wasn't really a need for a conversation - I just needed to point out your guess was wrong, and that the article told us so. This was about facts, not points, etiquette or friendliness.

[applejuice]

26. Okay, so be rude again.

I do normally read the articles before posting. I did not have time on this one, but thought I would add that there is a big difference between the way US paper delivery works and the European system wors because it might have been useful info for others. So it wasn't on this ocassion, I was not being obstructive on purpose, I was only trying to help.

And I never denied I made a mistake. I was just saying you were totally rude about it.

If your intention was to run someone off you have suceeded. Way to go being uncivil!

[acsmith]

28. the etiquette is...

if you are commenting on an article and you clearly haven't read it some people will take pot shots at you.

i think that is fair.

p.s. i am new here too and i understood that pretty quickly, I don't think it is only true on DU.

[Acadia Blue]

27. The Old EU is ahead of the USA in so many ways.