Be threatened with disappearance of kiosks

The question of the survival of "Liberation" is today asked. After "France night", it is the turn of the daily newspaper founded by Serge July to look for a saviour. Be threatened with disappearance of kiosks. Because, if some rely on the place of "Liberation" in the democratic debate as well as the indispensable need for pluralism in the press to suggest that this hypothesis is hardly conceivable, they between perhaps optimism. That it wishes to, the policy has little means to prevent the disappearance of a title. In the past, Governments have saved "On the morning of Paris" or "The daily life of Paris". Manufacturers who invest in the press in a logic of pure patronage have become rare. Edouard de Rothschild, the first shareholder of "Parole" with 38.8 of the capital, and said that he does not creates the newspaper in any conditions. Whatever the next donors of "Parole", if there is, they want to be sure of a return on their investment.

The substantive question for them is therefore to identify conditions under which a French generalist daily can find a viable in a changing world, upset, economy with the explosion of the Internet and the free press, by the inflow of a wealth of information available free of charge. This problem is not French. All publishers press of the planet phosphorent to escape the announced death of sector predictions. To bring the national mainstream dailies in a viable economy, two types of measures seem compelling: point falling dead by cost reductions and the enrichment of editorial content to boost broadcasts.

Between 2001 and 2005, the French dailies have indeed lost 13.5 of their turnover from the sales and 16 of their advertising revenues, according to the media. Also violent crisis, they have little choice but to cut their costs to adapt to their new revenue structures. Abroad, newspapers have been highly reactive. In France, for historical reasons, newspaper publishers have never had control of their printing and distribution costs. The management of the newspaper was often approximate. Overall, the sector has always been lag time in the adjustment of its costs. Hence a cruel lack of cash flow to invest in the editorial. Enrich, renew the content of the newspapers appears as one of the conditions that the dailies rekindled with the profitability, if not the most crucial issue. The decline of the French information daily readership is well before the explosion of the Internet and back in reality in the 1980s. Publishers did not know enough to renew their product to expand the base of their readership, in the direction of young people for example. The offer of the weekend in France makes smile British publishers. Without going up to imitate the "Washington Post", which relies on its Web site to see what items elicit the audience more, publishers will therefore have to (re) learn how to use the editorial marketing for readers. The challenge is not simple, because faced with the mass of free information available, the paying daily must ensure use and utility value to justify its price.

According to some, it could drive daily, after the radio and television, to enter into a logic of segmentation. Better targeted, the newspaper should apply to a community of readers (the CSP , Bobo ), or enter a thematic logic. This is what makes the success of the "The team" sports daily, very profitable. Proximity also ensures the well managed regional dailies profitability up to 5 of turnover. Remain a "real" generalist or enter a niche strategy The question arise necessarily for newspapers too low resources. By providing a clear answer, publishers could regain advertisers that reason more than in terms of target and require the most efficient media (in terms of power, the affinity and the economy) in each of the media.

This repositioning must be accompanied by a policy of diversification. The Web has become an unavoidable element of the strategy of newspapers. But its contribution to the results is marginal: these are, for the moment, the Yahoo! and Google that capture the advertising bonanza. It must therefore go further and increase the revenue per player with high margin products: supplements and hors-series, more products (DVDs, books, etc.), information on mobile. In the United States, newspapers such as the "New York Times" now use electronic services to deliver a tailored information. The challenge is to attract new readers, particularly young people. To do this, another track could create additional, free or tabloid editions in the image of what has been "Die Welt" in Germany. To carry out this strategy, the taboo subject of the versatility of journalists will be at the centre of the debates.

This posed many questions remain outstanding for the publishers of press from around the world and make uncertain the economic model of the future of all daily newspapers. Where Internet and the free cannibaliseront sales of the paper journal The addition of the Print Edition and the Web will enable to regain profitability levels comparable to those prevailing before the burst of the Internet What horizon In any event, need to manage a transition period which the duration is unknown. In the meantime, the investment needed will be high. What sign in the evil of the viability of the company based on the only couple paper-Web log. Should in fact have a significant cash flow or even be backed by a generous shareholder to take. Unless be incorporated in a group French or foreign with which synergies are possible. Las, at the time to confront the new situation, "The world" and "Liberation", historically underfunded, are still seek own funds. The upcoming recapitalisations cannot be conducted without being asked the question sensitive to sustainability of the employee share ownership, inherited from the post-war and its powers. It is the multiple unknown equation arises the Bank Lazard to find investors to refinance "liberation".