The fall of free newspapers in Europe: is it the end?

They were everywhere just a few years ago – at the subway exits, street corners, or even at the office. The most popular ones were probably 20 Minutes and Metro. We took it, read it for a few minutes, and then put it back here and there. However, this period of democratisation of access to news is over. In recent years, many free print newspapers have died across Europe. 

In France, for example, the last free newspaper, 20 Minutes, stopped its printed edition this summer and laid off a third of its digital workforce. This ended the model of free general information newspapers in France, which began in 2002. 

In the UK, The London Evening Standard printed its final paper last month ahead of a move to weekly-only editions and a rebrand under a new title called The London Standard. Launched in 1827, the newspaper became free of charge in 2009. After an increase in circulation when they transitioned to a free model, they have been recording a huge decline. The British paper’s daily circulation has dropped from 850,000 to 275,000 in the past five years, and it has lost £84.5m over the past six years. 

The disappearance of free newspapers raises questions about the plurality and diversity of information, which can lead to a monopoly situation in certain countries. In the beginning, a real trend and competition for paid newspapers had developed. But with digitalisation, few of them continue to exist. 

In Switzerland, the free-printed newspaper 20 Minuten tries to resist. “In spring 2023, we upgraded the newspaper by publishing more lifestyle content, using thicker paper, and refreshing the layout,” said Eliane Loum-Gräser, spokesperson for the newspaper. “This has helped us to temporarily increase the number of print readers, and we have also received positive reactions from the advertising market.”

According to figures provided by the company, 20 Minuten reaches over 2 million daily readers, online and in print, across Switzerland. The free newspaper is distributed via newspaper boxes located in high-traffic areas, like train stations and shopping malls, and in different languages. 

From Monday to Friday, the circulation is about 298,429 copies for the German-speaking part, 123,147 copies for the French-speaking part, and 23,565 copies for the Italian-speaking part. “We are constantly optimising our printing and distribution costs. At some point, the print will probably have an expiry date, but new distribution channels, such as WhatsApp, are constantly opening up,” said Loum-Gräser, who remains optimistic for the future.

What is the future for newspapers?

“There is no European country where newspapers are a profitable economic sector,” said Roberta Carlini, part-time assistant professor at the European University Institute (EUI) and researcher at the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF). “The crisis is of course deeper in some countries, but the trend of decline is everywhere in Europe. The business model of the newspaper, and particularly for free newspapers, has been disrupted by the digital evolution.” The COVID-19 pandemic, with the lockdown, also accelerated this fall, as did Russian invasion of Ukraine, which led to an increase in the price of paper and inks. 

The model was simple at the beginning. Free newspapers relied on advertising revenue instead of sales. Readers do not have to pay anything to have access to this daily free press. The costs of producing information and printing were assumed by the media, thanks to the advertisers. But it simply doesn’t work anymore with digitalisation. 

“The situation was different before. The newspaper, including free ones, didn’t need revenue from the readers, because the advertising was so high. But with the personalisation of advertising, advertisers are going more and more digital, considering that the services online offered by the platform are much more efficient,” said Carlini. 

Many newspapers have changed their model and have opted for paywalls in recent years. This turn was first initiated by the New York Times in 2011, through the implementation of a paywall on the meter. The strategy bore fruit quite quickly, since the following year, the subscription revenues of the American daily exceeded those of advertising. This gradually inspires the entire world press.

However, for free newspapers, this is simply impossible.

The free press was born on the idea of being free and couldn’t count on the second pillar of revenue, from the readers. Now it’s too late, they cannot change their strategy

Roberta Carlini, part-time assistant professor at the European University Institute and researcher at the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom

She also wants to emphasise, however, that the free press, very engaged in small communities and with a strong identity, could continue to survive. 

“On one hand, we operate an extremely successful news portal and are active on social media ourselves in order to bring our verified news to a very young target group that hardly consumes traditional media anymore. But at the same time, a large share of online advertising money goes to the big tech platforms from overseas. This is, of course, a major challenge for 20 Minuten as a purely advertising-financed medium,” explained Loum-Gräser, saying that they are now working on different strategic initiatives to diversify their revenue streams to survive in the long term.

Source of the cover photo: Jonathan Gong via Unsplash

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