French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to double state spending on newspaper advertisements as a way of helping the struggling print media industry.
Like their counterparts across the world, French newspapers have seen advertising revenue fall in recent years as readers opt instead for Internet sites and free dailies.
The French read fewer daily newspapers than their neighbours, coming 20th in a European ranking, according to figures cited by a special commission.
Based on recommendations by the commission, the $US777 million package also includes a one-year moratorium on a planned increase in postal charges for newspapers as well as other steps to cut the heavy distribution costs they face.
Free press subscriptions for 18-year-olds, paid partly by the government and partly by publishers, are promised as well.
It's your crisis too, press told
Mr Sarkozy says a "powerful press, aimed at a mass public" is vital for democracy. He told newspapers, however, that they had to try to save themselves by being innovative and appealing to a younger readership.
"You can't say there's a crisis and not think about what it is you're offering," he said in a speech on Friday.
The newspaper initiative follows Sarkozy's overhaul of the state broadcasting sector: public television lost its right to carry advertising in exchange for a pledge from the government to make up the revenue shortfall.
