While the GAFAM decide what deserves to make headlines and a handful of billionaires control the bulk of the media, another logic is emerging. It stems from information fatigue, from the need to find meaning in what we read. And for independent media, from another necessity: breaking free from dependence on clicks, ads, algorithms, and establishing a more direct relationship with readers by guaranteeing them truly diverse information.
On one hand, a shared subscription portal for independent media outlets. A unified platform to make it easier to access multiple titles, something readers have been hoping for for years—tired of multiplying accounts, newsletters, passwords, and bills. The launch of the Coop-médias cooperative brought the subject back into focus last fall: « Some of the funds collected could support distribution of titles, while others could help pool resources and expertise », explained its cofounder, Lucie Anizon, to Le Monde. Today, the «La Presse Libre » portal project has launched, backed by Les Jours, Arrêt sur images, Politis, Next (formerly Next INpact), Reflets.info, and Mediacités.
On the other hand, Basta! is building an information portal free from the algorithmic logic of platforms like Google News. A fundraising campaign allowed them to raise the funds needed to launch a platform where every piece of content is hand-picked, then justified and embodied. A counter-routine for reading, designed as a tool for empowerment. The team is thus taking further the curation portal it has maintained since 2015.
These two projects tell the story of independents crossing a threshold: the pooling of resources, tools, and models in the face of billionaire dominance.
A Netflix-style model: La Presse Libre
For over a year, six independent media outlets — Les Jours, Arrêt sur images, Politis, Next (formerly Next INpact), Reflets and Mediacités — have been working on La Presse Libre, a portal offering a unique subscription package to these media outlets. The beta version launch is scheduled for late September 2025, with an official opening in early 2026.
The story of an old dream
This project addresses repeated requests from readers: the ability to subscribe to multiple news outlets without multiplying individual subscriptions (and going broke in the process).
Until now, publishers were held back by fear of cannibalizing their direct subscriptions. In other words, partner media outlets worried that their direct subscribers would cancel to join a cheaper bundled platform whose revenue would be split among multiple titles. Besides, if the idea and name of La Presse Libre ring a bell, that's no accident. A first version had launched between 2016 and 2020, but as a digital newsstand offering à la carte discounts: the more titles you added to your basket, the lower the monthly price became. A project that already included Arrêt sur Images, which had moreover taken a hit when it shut down due to lack of economic viability.
Today, the landscape has changed. Dependence on platforms, declining visibility on social networks, and economic difficulties are driving the move toward shared resources.
Two business models are thus being studied. In the first, if a reader already subscribed to a media outlet leaves the publisher's site to join the platform, the media would retain 100% of the revenue linked to that subscriber. In the other, the platform would take a commission of up to 30% on new subscriptions.
A survey sent to subscribers of partner media outlets validated interest in the project. "We received over a thousand responses. The feedback was 'finally!' a bit like waiting for the union of the left," summarizes Jacques Trentesaux, co-lead of the project.
Two possible offers
The team is currently working on a global license formula giving access to all content from partner media outlets, which should cost around €20 per month. While the project is expected to launch with around ten titles, it aims to bring together as many publishers as possible who share its values of independence.
Regarding revenue distribution, La Presse Libre intends to find a formula that allows the most established media outlets to participate in the platform while ensuring a form of solidarity with publishers with the most modest revenues.
Goal: 10,000 subscribers within two and a half years of launch. This will also strengthen a sense of belonging among readers, who become collective supporters rather than mere individual consumers.
A democratic initiative
At the origin of the project is Daniel Schneidermann, founder of Arrêt sur images. While he stepped down from running the site, he remains a shareholder and continues his work as a columnist and presenter. Daniel Schneidermann also made it possible for the project to come to fruition by finding a private patron (outside the media world) who supports it today.
The project is now managed by an association bringing together the six partner media outlets, operating on an entirely democratic basis: every decision is voted on by majority. Eventually, the association could become a SCIC (Société Coopérative d'Intérêt Collectif).
An editorially curated tool
" Three full-time equivalents will run the machine, with daily newsletters and weekly videos that highlight the best content from contributing publishers. We won't just be placing content from different sites side by side. It will be enhanced through editorial curation to encourage reading ", explains Jacques Trentesaux. The ambition is to reach readers, whose attention is already heavily solicited, by offering them an engaging editorial entry point. The interface will also allow users to read articles either directly on the platform or on the publishers' sites, depending on their preference.
Rather than a merger, the project stakeholders see in the Basta! portal project, which we discuss further below, a possible partner. Certain contents from the Basta! portal could thus appear on La Presse Libre, and vice versa. A way to cross-pollinate audiences and, in the long term, to lay the groundwork for shared editorial projects, even if the priority today remains distribution.
An alternative to Google News: Basta!
Imagine a Google News where the main sources would be called Reporterre, Mediapart or Politis and where news would be filtered through social, ecological, and feminist perspectives. While La Presse Libre focuses on simplicity of access, Basta! chooses to emphasize discoverability: a portal of human and committed curation as an alternative to algorithms, where each piece of content will be selected, explained and endorsed.
A portal against algorithms and information overload
Launched in 2015, Basta!'s curation platform now attracts 1,500 daily visits. A niche community, loyal, somewhat older, and already familiar with the indie ecosystem. But the potential remains underutilized. The portal has low visibility, no monetization strategy, and no donation appeal.
The project is now to expand it into a more ambitious portal. The idea: put people back at the heart of information curation and offer an alternative to the logic of social networks, where viral content often takes priority over quality.
This portal is therefore not a social platform, nor an automatic aggregator. No likes, comments, or shares. Only a space designed so that readers can stay informed without being overwhelmed.
To retain audiences accustomed to TikTok or X, some news outlets are integrating formats inspired by social networks directly into their websites: dynamic news feeds, vertical videos. By adopting this approach, these outlets are no longer merely content suppliers for social networks, but are positioning themselves as standalone products offering a complete and independent experience, while freeing themselves from algorithmic constraints. It is with this strategy in mind that Urbania launched its "micro-mag," a 100% digital format blending the codes of traditional magazines with typical web formats: vertical videos, polls, and more. Distributed and hosted on their website, these embody the media's ambition to reclaim its audience outside the ecosystems dominated by the GAFAM.
An embodied tool
The daily selection for the current portal is done manually by a journalist at Basta!, without this work being truly visible or valued. Tomorrow, the team wants to take this service even further by focusing on embodying the content: each selection will be clearly justified with criteria such as relevance, originality, editorial quality, and usefulness to public debate.
Media present on the platform must meet three criteria: independence (meaning they are not dependent on interests outside the press), their commitment to democratic, social, and ecological values, and finally the reliability of published information. Media outlets can be selected directly by Basta! or propose their integration into the portal.
This selection will be supplemented by a section featuring thematic files, weekly press reviews, and short-form content, including videos, to reach a wider audience. In the fall, a full-time journalist will be hired to manage this section.
Another major innovation: the integration of a customization tool defined by the user. No use of data such as IP address, geolocation or browsing history—the approach is voluntary and non-intrusive. Users can choose, if they wish, the topics and geographical areas they want to follow.
A non-commercial model
The portal operates with no financial counterpart for the listed media outlets. Here, the ambition is to generate qualified traffic, foster discovery, and encourage audience crossover between independent media. But it represents a significant lever for Basta!, which regularly relies on this tool in its campaigns to reach an audience beyond its usual channels.
Eventually, the team hopes to make the portal self-sustaining through donations, particularly by leveraging its newsletters and building up a shared mailing list. The project embodies a vision of succession: "If in three or four years this portal has found its audience, we'll be able to bring the various stakeholders to the table and imagine a cooperative run by all of these media outlets," explains Nicolas Camier, head of development at Basta!, who is steering the portal. A first fundraising campaign was successfully carried out, allowing the outlet to raise the €160,000 needed to create this new platform.
Initially, the team will track two metrics: monthly traffic and conversion to partner media sites. More qualitative data will follow, such as time spent on the platform or the number of links consulted, to better understand user behavior.
To go further
- Similar dynamics are emerging beyond these two projects. The common portal of the Syndicate for Non-Conformist Press (SPPP), launched in early April, already brings together around forty independent media outlets, with bundled subscription offers at preferential rates. The project, supported with €15,000 by the Fund for a Free Press, is now entering a second phase: graphic improvement, expansion of offerings, and brand awareness.
- For three years, several major French media outlets have been offering reduced-price subscriptions to those who subscribe through their Google account. These bilateral partnerships distort subscription pricing and create a new form of competition.
- In a crisis-hit ecosystem, the newsletter platform Substack seemed to offer genuine independence: an easy-to-use tool, a subscription model, and the ability to build a community. But by swapping one intermediary (media, social network) for another (Substack), you remain trapped in platform logic, with its opaque rules and structural biases.
- After being banned from Facebook and Instagram in 2023, Canadian independent media outlets developed new formats and forged partnerships to bounce back. While this crisis dealt a significant blow, it also prompted media outlets to question their relationship with social platforms.
Médianes, the studio, supported Basta! in winter 2022 with its marketing strategy, particularly around the free media portal. Working alongside them, we conducted an audience study and a communication campaign.
At the request of La Presse Libre, the mention of Daniel Schneidermann as the project's initiator has been added. We also clarified the passage on the distribution of revenue from this portal with the mention of a solidarity rule still under review for smaller publishers. Finally, in the first version of the article, we mentioned that a merger with the Basta! portal had been considered. La Presse Libre wished to clarify these statements. Their team instead sees a partnership logic emerging in the future between these two projects.
