Urgence de Presse
The mainstream printing industry is in trouble. It’s tangential to printmaking but it does have it’s ramifications (more than one university printshop will be scrounging for newsprint as free sources of end rolls dry up). It’s a complicated problem but the bottom line is pretty clear… newspapers are collapsing due to lack of subscribers and advertising dollars. But what can be done? Aside from making a ridiculous cartoons, are there any options? Well, there’s always government intervention.
A little more than a week ago, French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a federal aid package for the French newspaper industry. In a move that is a temporary reprieve at best, Sarkozy introduced a multi-tiered plan that includes tax breaks, government advertising, and “giving 18-year-olds free subscriptions to the printed publication of their choice.” From International Herald Tribune…
“This support, which already totals about €280 million, or $362 million, a year, will be lifted by an estimated €200 million a year for three years under the measures announced by Sarkozy. This may buy newspapers some time, but will not solve their problems, analysts said.”
This seems troublesome (and crazy) on any number of levels. It definitely seems like a compromise of the press’ objectivity- can they bite the hand that feeds them? But beyond that obvious problem, it seems like a measure to deny rather than adapt to changing cultural (and technological) climate. There has got to be a better way.
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