Sarkozy Pledges To Help Struggling French Press

He also promised a free press subscription for 18 year-olds, paid partly by the government and partly by the publishers.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged on Friday to double state spending on newspaper adverts as part of a 600 milllion euro ($777 million) package of measures to help the struggling print media industry.

Like their counterparts across the world, French newspapers have faced financial problems in recent years as advertising revenues fall and as readers desert in favour of Internet sites and free dailies. They have also been hampered with an antiquated distribution system.

The measures over three years, based on recommendations from a special commission, include a one-year moratorium on a planned increase in postal charges for newspapers as well as other steps to cut the heavy distribution costs they face.

"It is the state's primary responsibility to respond to an emergency and there is an emergency caused by the impact of the collapse of advertising revenue on the financial position of the press," Sarkozy said in a speech.

He told newspapers they had to try to save themselves, by looking at their content, editorial innovation and how to find a younger readership. "You can't say there's a crisis and not think about what it is you're offering," he said.

Despite France's long press tradition, French people read fewer daily newspapers than their neighbours, coming 20th in a European ranking with an average of only 155 copies sold per 1,000 inhabitants, according to figures cited by the commission.

National dailies from the leftwing Liberation to the conservative Le Figaro and the highbrow Le Monde have been forced to make cuts under the added pressure of economic crisis but Sarkozy said a "powerful press, aimed at a mass public" was vital for democracy.

He promised to step up state aid to the distribution system which delivers newspapers to the 30,000 newsstands across the country and said the measures could help create thousands of jobs for the long-term unemployed and students.

He also promised a free press subscription for 18 year-olds, paid partly by the government and partly by the publishers.

Officials from Sarkozy's office said the package was worth 600 million euros overall but that this figure did not include state support promised to the printing sector.

The measures also aim to help the budding online news sector with a special tax status for online news publishers, several of which were started by journalists who used to work for newspapers like Liberation and Le Monde.

The president, who is close to several of France's biggest media entrepreneurs, has faced frequent criticism over his attitude to the press, including accusations that he has on occasion intervened to have senior journalists removed.

The newspaper initiative follows Sarkozy's overhaul of the state broadcasting sector which saw public television lose its right to carry advertising in exchange for a pledge from the government to make up for the revenue shortfall.