Le Monde Saved?
Scooped at the 11th hour by a trio of French industrialists, the averted closing of Le Monde may seem like collecting antique watches, or moving the pieces into place for the coming elections. However, the context for Le Monde’s near closing holds some lessons for US media:
The Economist, Le Monde gets a new owner
A second reading is that Le Monde’s troubles reflect those of the newspaper business at large, which seem particularly acute in France. The internet, an ageing newspaper readership, declining ad revenues and free papers have battered the market for the printed word, despite government subsidies. Strong printing and distribution unions make newspapers in France costly and unreliable to produce. And France has a weak national newspaper culture anyway. People sitting on the Paris metro are more likely to have their noses stuck in a book (or a free paper) than a daily they have bought. Regional papers, filled with news about municipal fêtes and goings-on at the town hall, have far higher circulations than the national press. Le Monde made such problems worse with over-staffing and bad business decisions, such as the launch of costly supplements.
Note that even with government subsidies — which some have been calling for here in the US — an iconic newspaper like Le Monde was about to fail. And while our citizens might not be reading books in the subway (although I see some of that) they certainly are spending more time watching TV than buying papers.
- ‘Dinosaur’ Le Monde Agrees To Takeover To Save It From Bankruptcy (paidcontent.org)
- Lazard banker trio to win Le Monde bid (ftalphaville.ft.com)
- Tycoon trio set to buy Le Monde (news.bbc.co.uk)
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