GoKawiilFrench RCT: free newspaper subscriptions boost teen news habits, cut info gap
A randomized controlled trial across 243 French high schools and 9,628 students tested giving teenagers a free one-year digital subscription to a major national newspaper and running media-literacy classes taught by teachers. Researchers tracked actual online reading behavior and found subscriptions sharply increased news consumption and even led some students to pay for subscriptions on their own nearly a year later. Students in poorer schools showed the biggest knowledge gains, and combining free access with media education produced the strongest literacy improvements, especially with experienced teachers.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The findings suggest that removing cost barriers to quality journalism, not just teaching critical-thinking skills, can meaningfully change how young people engage with news and narrow inequality in civic knowledge between wealthier and poorer students. It offers policymakers concrete evidence that subsidized subscriptions paired with teacher training could be a scalable tool against misinformation and disengagement among youth.
- Free newspaper subscriptions led to an 8-point rise in paid subscriptions among teens nearly a year later.
- Students in deprived schools saw the largest gains, cutting baseline information inequality by 45-70%.
- Combining free access with media education, especially from experienced teachers, produced the biggest literacy improvements.
Source: cepr.org — Simon Briole, 2026-09-08
Published there as: “Making Teenagers Read Newspapers. A Nationwide Experiment in French High Schools”
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