When news become public goods?

Mon journal offert, my free newspaper program has officially begun in France.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/28/business/media/28papers.html?_r=1

We mentioned about this briefly in class.
It has started two days ago. About 30,000 youth signed up voluntarily. Government is releasing Ad. campaigns also.

Can the news be supplied by the government like bridges or roads? What happens to consumer behavior then?

If you are 18~24 you can sign up for 1 year subscription of any newspapers.
French govement is spending 600 euro, which is about 900 million dollars.

I personally think this is a stinky business. Because many newspaper owners are Sarkozy's friends. The French president has been in charge of subsidizing newspapers when he was an Interior minister.

The Guardian reported that French people had little respect for news publications today, "in a climate where politicians rewrite their own interviews for publication and the president's powerful business friends, from construction to arms manufacturing, own several major papers or TV stations. "

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/23/sarkozy-pledges-state-aid-to-newspapers