France gifts every 18 year old with a newspaper subscription

Turning 18 in the UK means you can now legally do a lot of the stuff you’ve been doing since you were 12 (drinking, smoking, watching dirty films, etc) but France are going to mark this milestone with something a little more special, a newspaper subscription. Aside from this being a nice, if novel, gift from President Sarkozy, it’s also something that’s being put in place by the state to ensure the longevity of the press industry.

The majority of people turning 18 in western Europe will have grown up with the internet being a significant part of their daily lives so this feels a little like the state trying to get people to watch black and white TVs when there really isn’t any need. Especially as I assume most French newspapers will be online. I started to think this level of protectionism was silly and unnecessary, then I remembered RBS and Lloyds bank!

Source: Google