Published on September 27, 2023 at 1:24 p.m.
Radical strategic shift for the magazine “Causette”. The feminist monthly created in 2009 ceases its paper publication to become a 100% digital media. The October issue is the last to be distributed to newsstands and to subscribers’ mailboxes. “Everything you found every month in “Causette” will now be available on our site,” says Christine Turk, the newspaper’s editorial and digital director.
Several factors motivated this decision, starting with the increase in production costs. ” THE paper price which has soared in recent months has weighed on our accounts, causing an additional cost of more than 150,000 euros per year,” specifies the manager, who also highlights the difficulties of distribution in kiosks, more and more of which are closing. “We are almost in balance, but the fact of absorbing these unforeseen costs put us in a certain fragility, which no longer left any room for error, it was not tenable,” she agrees.
The news magazine feminist, recognized as a publication of political and general information (IPG), also wanted to adapt to the evolution of increasingly digital uses. “We want to continue our fight to defend the cause of women and to be able to speak to as many people as possible, by being present online, on all social platforms and by making the video, which requires investments,” she points out.
Unchanged team
The newspaper team remains the same, with 9 employees, including 8 journalists. Video skills will be sought externally. The magazine is reworking its identity on Instagram and Facebook, preparing its arrival on TikTok and Snapchat and is preparing to unveil very soon a new version of the site, which will become a real information site, updated daily.
Some content will be accessible free of charge, but the newspaper focuses primarily on a subscription model (at 4.99 euros per month), supplemented by donations from readers on the Oképal platform, via the J’aime l’info ociation. . Current paper subscribers will automatically switch to the digital offer. The newspaper also hopes to attract online advertisers, so until now advertising brought in around 10% of revenues.
“Causette” does not communicate on its number of subscribers, nor on its distribution since 2018, the year of its takeover by the Hildegarde group (founded by Reginald de Guillebon and parent company of “French Film” and “Premiere”). The monthly was then in liquidation. According to the ACPM, around 40,000 copies were circulating in 2018. According to its editorial director, the title’s circulation has remained stable in recent years.
This digital shift As a pioneer in the coverage of feminism, a subject that many other media subsequently took up, will it allow it to broaden its audience? “We may lose some readers, but we think we will gain new ones, among those who have deserted the paper press. Our audience base is extremely large,” considers Christine Turk, for whom the challenge is “ambitious, but reasoned. »