The Ombudsman's column: Justice condemns counterfeiting in the press

On May 7, 40 newspapers, including Sud Ouest, associated with the Alliance de la presse d'information générale, which brings together nearly 300 newspapers and employs 42% of French journalists, achieved a significant victory. In February, these publishers had taken legal action to force internet providers Bouygues, SFR, Orange, and Free to block access to NewsDay.fr, a pirate site that publishes more than 6,000 articles per day. The Paris judicial court heard their case: the blockage applies for eighteen months.

"The term 'victory' is not overused when commenting on this court decision," says Jean-Pierre Dorian, editorial director of "Sud Ouest." "Indeed," he explains, "information collected in the field, verified with rigor and speed, then edited on the Web and published in print, is expensive to produce. At "Sud Ouest," 230 journalists dedicate themselves to it daily, in a company of more than 700 people serving the reader. It's a daily challenge, in a complex environment. The price of paper, for example, doubled during Covid and the war in Ukraine. While optimizing the offering in our printed newspaper, which, since the end of March, has been highlighting more of the strengths of our Nouvelle-Aquitaine region , we are working to increase our readership on the Web." We have a total of 43,000 digital subscribers, and sudouest.fr is among the top 10 French general news sites. With 11.5 million people reading "Sud Ouest" in print or digital form each month, our publication is consolidating its position as a leading regional media outlet.

"This legal victory marks a turning point. It reflects the determination of press groups to protect the value of journalistic content."

Since its rise to online prominence, Sud Ouest has opted for a freemium strategy: some content is accessible for free, while others require a subscription. The latter offer richer, more exclusive information, which justifies their paid nature. "The quality of the articles is at the heart of the subscription strategy," explains journalist Helder Fonseca for the World Association of Newspapers, Wan-Ifra. "First and foremost," he continues, "free content must make readers want to stay on the newspaper's website. Then, it's important to build loyalty by offering them a varied and high-quality editorial selection. The goal of this strategy is also to maintain a certain independence from advertising revenue, which can fluctuate from one period to the next, depending on the visibility of content on Google, Facebook, or Twitter."