French news sites to launch paywalls

Following in the footsteps of The New York Times, French news sites like L’Express and Le Figaro will be providing paid-for online content, Le Monde reported today. News magazine L’Express intends to propose a paywall in 2010, sometime in the second trimester. Online Director Corinne Denis said the publication is continuing to work on the project. However, their “model is not yet finalised” and is not profitable since its costs are higher than what subscriptions could bring.

Le Monde already provides certain pay-for features on its site. Meanwhile, Le Figaro mentioned that it was introducing a “premium” paywall option in January but put the plans on hold for a while. It may launch the feature in February, Le Monde added. Jeff Mignon, a French consultant in New York, pointed out that he did not believe that payable features would save the print press by compensating for advertising revenue loss, reported MaxiSciences. He added that, at the same time, we shouldn’t judge publishers who take all sorts of initiatives to boost their profits.