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France Pledges $780 Million to Struggling Newspaper Industry

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged nearly $780 million in emergency aid for his country’s troubled newspaper industry.

In addition to his pledge of €600m ($779 million), Sarkozy has promised that every 18-year-old in the country will get a free subscription to the newspaper of his choice for a year.

France’s newspaper industry is among the least profitable in Europe. It is hampered by communist print unions and a lack of kiosks that sell papers, and suffers from a declining readership that is well below that of the U.K. or Germany, writes the Guardian.

Sarkozy’s promise of aid includes tax breaks for delivery services, which is spotty throughout France. Sarkozy also said the government would double the amount of advertising it does in print and online newspapers, according to the International Herald Tribune.

The move follows a three-month examination of the problems facing the press.

Newspapers have been hurt by the lack of trust the public has in media. Politicians are known to rewrite their interviews for publication, and the president’s friends in business own several major newspapers and television stations. But the main problem is the cost of printing in France. Sarkozy said he will support negotiations with printers’ unions in the hopes of reducing printing costs by as much as 40%.

The total circulation of print newspapers is 8 million, half that of the U.K. The largest daily is the sports paper, L’Equipe.

Sarkozy has been criticized for his recent attempts to tighten state control of public TV, including his move to drop prime time ads. Commercials will be phased out entirely by 2011, eliminating some $700 million in advertising. “If we keep commercials we are subjecting ourselves to the tyranny of audience ratings. And this always means the worst programming dumbed down to lowest levels,” Sarkozy said last February, when the plans were announced.