Montreal Gazette - La Presse speeding toward digital publishing on tablets

French-language daily La Presse is speeding to a digital transformation, according to several reports. The newspaper has come up with a three-to five-year plan to drastically reduce the printing of the newspaper in favour of a digital-only news offering.

Originally reported in Le Devoir, the news was confirmed by a La Presse employee yesterday. According to the plan, the newspaper will offer free iPads or other digital tablets to those who sign up for a three-year subscription to the newspaper. The print edition of the paper would be reduced to 75,000 copies from the current 200,000.

La Presse has already invested $5 million and expects to invest another $25 million into the plan, which would also involve numerous layoffs. Will Straw, a professor of communications at McGill University, said the move makes sense for La Presse.

"If this had happened a year ago, I would have thought it was a desperation move, but what has really changed is the popularity of tablets, especially the iPad, and I think that makes this really possible," Straw said.