The Hindu : International : Le Monde faces a deadline

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Friday, Oct 15, 2004

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International

Le Monde faces a deadline

By Amelia Gentleman

PARIS, OCT. 14. As the respected French newspaper Le Monde begins its 60th birthday celebrations, a chill hangs in the air. It is experiencing a financial crisis. Circulation has dropped, advertising is scant and the newspaper has announced it is seeking 100 voluntary redundancies — about 35 of whom are expected to be journalists. Some 100 jobs have been cut from the printing operation.

Executives emphasise that Le Monde is not alone in its plight. All of France's quality press is suffering, with circulation shrinking across the board. The explosion of easily available sources of free news caught all the papers off guard; improved Internet news sites and two new, very successful, free papers are enticing more and more readers away from their daily paper.

Third year of losses

Even given the difficult climate, Le Monde is in trouble. The paper has entered its third consecutive loss-making year, losing a total of about euros 50 million. Circulation dropped by 4 per cent in 2003 and is expected to fall another 3.5 per cent in 2004. Although it remains the country's best- selling paper, with 380,000 copies sold daily, analysts predict that Le Figaro will overtake it in a few months.

Executives are contemplating drastic changes, such as looking at switching the paper from an afternoon to a morning publication. There is a growing sense that the afternoon format is anachronistic, a remnant of an era when people watched less television and wanted something to read in the evening. Editors are also debating shrinking the size of the newspaper by half, to match the easily manageable A4 format of the free papers.

To relaunch

``Unfortunately we are passing through a very delicate period as we try to put our affairs back in order, so we are in a position to relaunch in 2005 in a stronger and dynamic fashion,'' Jean-Marie Colombani, the Editor, said. Mr. Colombani has been blamed for expanding the group too rapidly in the 1990s, buying up stakes in magazines and regional papers and investing heavily in the Internet site. The newspaper does not have a wealthy owner to rescue it, unlike Le Figaro.

Part of Le Monde's problems are tied up with peculiar logistical obstacles which make production and distribution extremely expensive. Apparently minor irritations, like the gradual disappearance of newspaper kiosks in Paris, have had a huge impact on sales. The business of selling newspapers has become very unprofitable and many of the traditional green stands which house paper vendors are shut. ``You have to walk to find a copy of Le Monde in Paris,'' Mr. Colombani said.

Distribution unions are militant and prone to striking, the postal service has just increased the price of delivering the paper and the TGV, France's express train, no longer has room to deliver Le Monde to the provinces. All of which means that most people outside Paris cannot buy the paper until the day after publication, when it is beginning to feel out of date. This was acceptable when there were few other news sources available, but now people have a wider choice. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004

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