[kictanet] Fw: [international_alumni] FRANCE: Sarkozy pledges EUR 600m to help newspapers

[S.Murigi Muraya]

'French press is among the least profitable in Europe, stifled by rigid 
communist print unions'

Aren't these the same communists who sued Amazon.com in France cause 
Amazon was not charging to deliver books?

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/12/12/Amazon-ordered-to-end-free-delivery-on-books-in-France_1.html

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2008/01/amazons-free-shipping-costing-1000-per-day-in-france.ars




dmakali at yahoo.com wrote:
> How about this, daktari. 
> Things we like to see and read.
> Gudday.
> David
>
>
> Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sree sreenivasan <ss221 at columbia.edu>
>
> Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 07:17:36 
> To: International Alumni<international_alumni at lists.jrn.columbia.edu>
> Subject: [international_alumni] FRANCE: Sarkozy pledges EUR 600m to help newspapers
>
>
> Am curious if any other country is doing anything similar...
>
> France: Sarkozy pledges EUR 600m to newspapers
> <http://www.ejc.net/media_news/france_sarkozy_pledges_eur_600m_to_newspapers/>
>
> The French president Nicolas Sarkozy Friday announced EUR 600m in
> emergency aid for his country's troubled newspaper industry and
> declared that every 18-year-old in France would get a year's free
> subscription to the paper of their choice to boost reading habits. The
> crisis-hit French press is among the least profitable in Europe,
> stifled by rigid communist print unions, a lack of kiosks selling
> papers and a declining readership far below that of the UK or Germany.
> Sarkozy said the aid package was not an attack on press freedom. The
> French state gives EUR 1.5bn in direct and indirect state aid to the
> press each year. Sarkozy likened the press to any other industry in
> need of aid, such as the automobile sector. Sarkozy's measures
> included a year's free, state-subsidised newspaper subscription for
> all teenagers from their 18th birthday. He extended tax breaks for
> investors in online journalism and said the state would double its
> advertising in print and online papers. Rules would be changed to
> allow investors outside Europe to take higher stakes in French titles.
> Papers in France are sold almost exclusively in a limited number of
> kiosks or specialist shops and there is a lack of newsagents. Sarkozy
> said he would increase sales points, loosen rules and pump aid into
> distributing papers to readers' front doors. The number one problem is
> the cost of printing in France, with printworks tightly controlled by
> the communist union, Le Livre, which has rigid hours and protections.
> Sarkozy said the state would support negotiations with printers'
> unions to reduce the costs by 30-40 percent.
>
> ---
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