The Pinch in Paris

The daily press of Paris defies characterization. Like the city itself, it has elements of the best in the brilliant Le Monde; and the worst, in Combat, which has deteriorated since its Camus heyday. The range is from serious to sexy, from Catholic to Communist. As a whole, the Paris press has not been noted for high quality, but it was long one of Europe's most prolific. A quarter-century ago, just after World War II, there were 28 dailies with a total circulation of 6,000,000. Today there are only 14, and despite a population increase, circulation has declined to 3,900,000 and is still shrinking steadily. As Le Monde sees it: "The press is sick, the press is dying."

That prognosis may be overstated, but not by much. Among those threatened are the nation's largest popular daily, France Soir, the right-wing L'Aurore, the leftist Combat and the Roman Catholic La Croix. Last month Combat and La Croix formed what they termed an "alliance," despite their obvious ideological differences. The goal: survival of the so-called partisan press, which is taxed more heavily than general newspapers. Among Paris dailies only the still profitable Le Monde has managed to increase circulation in the past two years (to 500,000). In the same period France Soir declined from 1,000,000 to 880,000.

Halfhearted Efforts. Readers outside Paris are turning away from capital dailies to their own provincial papers, many of which enjoy monopolies in their areas and provide superior local news coverage. Further inroads have been made by a spate of specialty magazines aimed at everyone from skiers to stamp collectors. Among the most successful of these is Salut Les Copains, a monthly for teen-agers that has boosted its circulation from near zero ten years ago to 800,000 today.

In self-defense, the metropolitan papers are making only halfhearted efforts to brighten up and offer more to the reader. France Soir's format now features horse-racing tips at the top of page one. Figaro is offering free subscriptions to college seniors and newlyweds, hoping that they will later be willing to pay. The papers should modernize archaic printing plants and distribution methods. But in troubled times they are reluctant to raise prices (most are 50 centimes--about 100) to meet higher costs. Advertising revenue has dropped along with readership, but TV is not the main villain. Commercials on the two-channel network are limited to twelve minutes a day. Advertisers have simply noted the decline in circulation, and some have followed the readers to magazines and provincial papers.

Cancerous Trait. In their pinch, the publishers are turning to the government, seeking lower newsprint costs and relief from proposed postal rate increases. But French newspapers already get an estimated annual subsidy of $400 million in the form of tax exemptions and special low rates for mail, telephone and telex services. The trend is now the other way; the state has boosted the price of newsprint 15% in the past 36 months and still plans to double postal rates next year.

Some think that salvation lies elsewhere. "The government is set upon either controlling or destroying the press," declares Journalist-Politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, general director of the weekly L'Express. Government control of broadcasting, says J.J.-S.S., is "one of the most cancerous traits of French society." He argues that publishers should branch out into profitable fields unrelated to journalism. If they cannot, the long-term outlook is for still fewer Paris papers.

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