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How Will We Read: Francois Dufour

05.01.12 | C M Rubin

Play Bac, the creators of the US’ bestselling curriculum-based product Brain Quest (which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year with 36 million copies in print) launched Mon Quotidien, a French daily newspaper for children aged between 10 and 14, in 1995. Le Petit Quotidien and L’Actu, for children aged six to 10 and 14 plus respectively, followed in 1998.

The three dailies currently have about 150,000 subscribers and two million readers in France. With the newspaper industry suffering globally from the consumer shift to digital, Cathy Rubin talks to editor in chief and co-founder of Play Bac, Francois Dufour, about keeping printed products alive in the internet age.

What do you believe is so unique about your proposition for kids?
We have no competition in France.  Le Petit Quotidien (7 years and up), Mon Quotidien (10 – 14 years), and L’Actu (14 and up) are the only daily papers available for kids aged 7 to 17, 6 days a week. Our concept is about getting kids to read for at least 10 minutes a day. In terms of our uniqueness? How about 99% of our readers keep all the issues.  And how about one father out of two and two moms out of three also read our newspapers for kids.

Why do you think kids enjoy them so much?
Kids love them because the content is not adult news explained to kids! It is news a nine or 12 or 15 year-old is interested in. We seldom feature an article on the same day it is published in adult news. One exception was the day Bin Laden was killed. Also, I think kids like the fact that our papers are short (four to eight pages long). Our papers are also very visual. Finally, the journalism in our newspapers is serious.  It is not childish.

Printed newspapers in this country are experiencing declines in their audiences. Can you give some examples of the kind of strong content you believe is attracting your audience?

I do a monthly survey of each newspaper with a panel of 200 readers. We’ve discovered that the youngest readers like to read incredible animal stories in the news. The next age level of readers likes to be surprised by news.

An example of this is news that reveals new records, new discoveries, or new inventions. Our oldest readers like news about injustice, such as stories about the death penalty or DNA mistakes.  And all readers like “parlez-moi de moi” stories, meaning stories about my daily life at school or at home where I (the reader) can identify with someone in the news.

Are you intending to launch your newspapers for children on the internet in the near future?

First of all, we will stay on paper because our audience really prefers to read on paper.  Please note I said our audience prefers to “read” on paper not “communicate”.  Second, parents want their children to stay away from the internet for at least 10 minutes a day. Parents don’t ask kids to read our newspapers. Parents just subscribe to them. The paper then arrives with the postman every morning. Parents would not pay for another internet activity!

How do you see the evolution of the newspaper market in France and Europe for printed children's newspapers, online news, and downloads to e-readers over the next three to five years?

I do believe the revenues will continue to grow on tablets and e-readers. Our newspapers have been downloadable for a year already.  But right now we only have 150 readers per day per app.

What opportunities are you pursuing internationally and what are your results to date?

We have licensees in English in Hong Kong and we are now expanding in Asia. We are also published in Arabic in Qatar. We’ll be expanding soon to other parts of the Middle East. We also do a weekly “best-of” in French in a Swiss Sunday paper, and in English in an Indian newspaper.

What viable role do you believe printed newspapers can play in the spectrum of media providing news information in the next 20 years?

I believe some older people will continue to read on paper (a luxury). At 49 years old (before getting old!), I have given up paper for the iPad. When everybody has a tablet, I do not see a use for paper. However, the viable role is still the editor. People can choose to build their own news sources for instance on Twitter.  But nothing replaces a good editor, and I would add, a good visual editor, creating the news for the reader so that it
makes enjoyable and interesting reading.

Photos courtesy of Play Bac.

C M Rubin is the author of the widely read online series, The Global Search for Education, and is also the author of three bestselling books, including The Real Alice in Wonderland.
 

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