Free newspaper subscriptions work in France

Commenting on this decision, Jeanne-Emmanuelle Hutin, a member of the directors committee at Ouest France and co-chair of the French Presidential Youth-Press Commission, said Ouest France, the nation's largest general interest newspaper, was part of the 41 French regional newspapers that have been experimenting with the concept since 2006.

The newspaper increased the number of regular readers among 18-24-year-olds by 22 000 in three years, with 12% re-subscribing after their free subscriptions ended and 65% of young subscribers continue to read Ouest France at least once a week after their free subscriptions ended.

Don't disappoint, and make sure you provide interesting, relevant content

Speaking at the World Young Reader Conference in Prague on Tuesday 29 September, Hutin said, “Is it a good idea? Yes, as long as we don't disappoint them… and interest them in the news, with relevant content and approaches, by investing in other platforms and by strengthening links with them. It's a fantastic opportunity, but a huge challenge.”

Commenting on the regional effort Hutin said it took work, and more still needs to be done. The newspapers had to devise special content for young people for the day it distributed the free subscriptions. In the case of Ouest France, it was a ‘Special Future' recruitment section. A marketing campaign using new media had to be created as traditional marketing didn't really work and a strategy to move the free subscribers to paid subscriptions had to be planned. A two-day-a-week paid subscription was offered after the one-day-a-week free subscription expired.

Trend must be reversed

“Free subscriptions are not a cure-all remedy, especially if there is nothing of interest to young readers in the newspaper. But it is the backbone of several initiatives to meet the needs of the youth,” said Hutin.

“What do the publishers want? They want to thwart the large-scale flight of young readers. 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.”

The subsidies are part of a package of measures recommended after a three-month government study of the French press last year. Other measures include tax breaks to investors in online journalism; doubling of government advertising in print and online news media; an increase in the number of distribution points; and government support in negotiations with printing unions.

The French press is among the least profitable in Europe, constrained by a distribution monopoly, lack of sales points and strong unions. It has the highest printing costs in Europe.

The 8th World Young Reader Conference, organised by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, brought publishers, marketing executives, education and young reader experts to Prague to examine initiatives for encouraging and increasing young readership. Summaries of the conference presentations are at www.wan-press.org/article18233.html.