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Libération editor's plan to save French newspapers by charging ISPs: Can it work?

Posted: 16/06/09 By: Dany Al Samad and Judith Townend

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A few weeks ago it was reported that Laurent Joffrin, editor of France's Libération newspaper, had come up with a new idea to save French newspapers.

Publishers, press and website editors should come together and ask leading internet service providers (ISPs or FAIs in France) Free and Orange to add a few euros to their customers' bills in order to cover costs of services provided by French news publications, Joffrin suggested.

Fees would then be fed back into French newspapers and other publications, depending on a site's popularity and the size of its newsroom.

Similar proposals have been made in the UK by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), which suggested a system of levies for aggregators and broadband providers to support public service broadcasters.

Joffrin's plan would operate on the same principle as the system of financing the cinema in France, which 'has saved the industry and allowed its expansion', the Libération editor said, as reported by Challenges.fr. At the heart of the plan is Joffrin's belief that newpapers are vital part of a functioning democracy.

Eric Scherer, director of strategic planning and partnerships at Agence France Presse (AFP) tells Journalism.co.uk that he has a 'mixed' opinion of Joffrin's plans.

"I ask myself lots of questions, such as how to convince the ISPs to pay? This may be difficult because nobody pirates our content, unlike the music industry, for whom a global licensing system was feasible," he said.

"Then, how to distribute the sum that is eventually harvested by the newspapers? It is a solution to consider, but I think this isn't a solution to save newspapers; rather the solution is to invent new things and new models. We mustn't always ask for money.

"It is a tax on ISPs that Joffrin wants to put in place, but ISPs are already taxed in order to finance France Television - to support the lack of advertising. And will they add this fee to their [customer] prices or reduce their turnover? ISPs are paid to provide access to news, so it's a legitimate demand, but is this feasible?"

Matthieu de Vivie, a French masters student specialising in new technology and media and author of research project 'Can online news be profitable?', is even warier of the plans. He tells Journalism.co.uk that the proposal 'seems typical of an industry in crisis' that has not long been innovating.

"The French press is one of the most subsidised in the world with the level of public support five times higher than in Sweden, but has a readership rate three times lower. This situation does not seem healthy and the tax on ISPs could hinder the necessary reforms to the sector," he says.

De Vivie also raises specific questions about how it would work: "Another question is who will take this pot of money? Will it go only to the press (...) or to specialised sites and other sites that contain a combination of professional and amateur content? This allocation would be arbitrary and would create a distortion of competition.

"I do not know if this proposal will work or not, but we can expect strong opposition from ISPs and their subscribers. In addition, the press has seen its credibility fall considerably in recent years and adding a tax is not the best way to regain the trust of readers.

"ISPs have no interest in helping newspapers: their goal is to make profit. Subscribers should also refuse: they should be able to pay for information that meets their needs, whether by advertising, by subscription, by micro-transactions or any other type of business model."

Journalism.co.uk will continue to follow progress of Joffrin's initiative, if it is taken further. Please leave your comments below or email judith at journalism.co.uk with further thoughts.

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