Like virtually every other newspaper in the world, Le Monde is losing cash. As respected by Europeans as the New York Times is to Americans, it appears that the 66-year old newspaper may be out of cash within a couple of weeks. Monday Note reports on the evolution of French press over the past several years that has led to this moment:
* A steady erosion in readership.
* A lack of budget discipline, made worse by loose governance.
* The core newsroom’s reluctance to support the digital strategy.
* The collective certainty the “brand” was too beautiful to fail and that a deep-pocketed philanthropist will inevitably show up at the right time to save the company.
* A difficulty to invest into the future, to test new ideas, to built prototypes, or to invest in decisive technologies.
* A bottomless investment in the heavy-industry part of the supply chain, in costly printing facilities.
* An excessive reliance on public subsidies which account for about 10% of the industry’s entire revenue. Compared to Sweden, French newspapers have 3 times less readers, but each one gets 5 times more subsidies.
They are apparently seeking (needing?) at least €100m. Filloux gives an excellent account of its history, including his opinion and an assessment. He also includes a great set of stats and raw numbers. Take a look at the past three years. Source: Monday Note.
Their opinion of what they need? At a minimum, Filloux suggests an editorial and industrial project, restructuring, a strong and decisive human resources initiative and a long term approach – in other words, renovation won’t be done overnight. If only newspapers understood this five years ago and started then, we wouldn’t be reading about so many newspaper death marches ONLINE.
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Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
