This morning during my hour long commute I picked up a copy of France’s Metro paper, a counterpart to the Metro papers distributed in various US cities. The column on the left of the front page read, “La presse va mieux, merci!” Translation? Roughly, “The press is going better, thank you!”

In France, perhaps the now aging trope “Print Is Dead” that we media fiends harp on with such belligerence, (and perhaps a hint of glee) does not ring true. According to the article, sales for print periodicals—particularly those revolving around athletics and politics—actually increased between July 2007 and June 2008, with Metro’s readership enjoying a 4.7% spike. (Then again, the paper is free, and the fact that it’s at almost every metro stop in Paris perhaps speaks more to the swell in commuters as opposed to that of those interested in the good, familiar smell of a newspaper.)

But this increase is more than one can say for most American newspapers. In the States, sales continue to dwindle as unemployment in the industry surges. So what’s the deal? Do the French just not read Gawker?

Photo: Flickr user ~ Phil Moore used under the Creative Commons