Archant bust?

[woolybanana]

It seems that Archant who own this forum may be bust and in for a period of painful restructuring. I wonder if this,forum will survive?

[Alan Zoff]

Per Wikipedia:

"In July 2020, Archant announced it had put itself up for sale and was willing to plug a funding deficit exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic’s disastrous impact on industry-wide advertising revenues."

[woolybanana]

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2020-08-28/shares-in-historic-newspaper-publisher-archant-worthless-after-major-financial-restructuring

Seems they have been bought in part with to be dumped and the pension deficit dumped on the taxpayer. Nothing said about the magazines etc.

[alittlebitfrench]

Magazines in general are really dead in the water. Uk and France, it is the same.

It has all gone online.

I am guessing that this site (including forum) will hang in cyberspace for a while and then get turned off.

Brexit and Covid was just the final nail.

[NickP]

"Brexit and Covid was just the final nail."

What has Brexit got to do with a magazine going broke? I believe the reason is the internet, people now get more information quicker and cheaper. According to some sources, Brexit has increased interest in France., therefore more searches can be done immediately rather than waiting a month for a magazine to appear at the cost of some pounds or Euros.

[mint]

So, ALBF, when will your forum be up and running?

Just think you can say as many silly things as you like and nobody will be able to slap your wrist?

[alittlebitfrench]

Lol.. Mint.

If I did a forum people would have to pass a sense of humour test before joining.

[Beckett]

Shame - I hope they continue the French magazines, which I subscribe to.

[Beckett]

No good for me then - and you're not interested in me dinner either.

Philistine.

[Lehaut]

Should we be saying goodbye to all those virtual acquaintances we have made over relatively long (for me 16 years) period of time?

I would not like to wake up one morning to find it has been "switched off" without saying something.

[Beckett]

What, you're not on all the others as well? :)

[NickP]

Lehaut wrote: I would not like to wake up one morning to find it has been "switched off" without saying something.

Well said Lehaut I think the same.

[EuroTr@sh]

I also hope the forum remains.

I can understand how Covid has hit advertising revenue - all kinds of businesses will have cut back on advertising, either to save money or because there was no point in advertising things that people can't do during lockdown. I remember the knock on effect of the financial crash in 2008 or thereabouts, lots of small and not-so-small publishers went to the wall. The money they take for subscriptions is a drop in the ocean compared to what they take in advertising.

So I guess with the forum it may be use it or lose it - the higher the footfall, the more revenue the owners will get and the more viable it will be to keep it going..

[mint]

A call to arms then, ET?  Well done, bravo!

Come on, all you grateful and appreciative folk, if you have benefited from advice given freely by members, if you have ever felt uplifted, supported in times of difficulty, if you have enjoyed sharing the joys and contentment of life, PLEASE now is the time for you to POST somthing[:D]

Go on, now is the time to mettre la main à la pate[:D]

[Lori]

I too would hate to wake and find the forum gone.  It has been a fantastic resource for me in all kinds of ways.  And, I do love reading all of what you folks post.  I know I can always find an answer to nearly anything I need to know about life in France.  And, sometimes, I can offer answers for other people.

I'd hate to see it go.

I'll try to post more often. 

[woolybanana]

Nimt, ‘ put your hand on your head’ or ‘halfpenny‘?

Come on guys, use it or lose it.

[mint]

Wooly, don't be cruel; I don't know how to put a circumflex on the "a"[:(]

[Beckett]

Woolybanana said:

Come on guys, use it or lose it.

I think that's the point. No point in having 500 views of a topic if only a dozen are contributing to the discussion

[Loiseau]

Actually it’s probably more remunerative for Archant if we make a point of clicking on the adverts. I am feeling a bit grumpy about them at the mo', as both sides of my iPad screen are cut off by them, so I am typing this blnd; please excuse any typos...

[Lehaut]

Beckett wrote "What, you're not on all the others as well? :)"

I live a very sheltered life, did not know there were any others until the recent ALBF "rant" ;)

[suein56]

Loiseau wrote the following post at 02 Sep 2020 1:04:

Actually it’s probably more remunerative for Archant if we make a point of clicking on the adverts. I am feeling a bit grumpy about them at the mo', as both sides of my iPad screen are cut off by them, so I am typing this blnd; please excuse any typos...

Have you zoomed in .. using 2 fingers .. to expand the part of the forum you want to see clearly. This usually means that the adverts are pushed out of view.

Or is your problem different ?

[suein56]

mint wrote the following post at 01 Sep 2020 18:10:

Wooly, don't be cruel; I don't know how to put a circumflex on the "a".

Now's the time to learn .. what are you using to access the forum .. tablet/laptop/pc ?

[woolybanana]

[quote user="mint"]Wooly, don't be cruel; I don't know how to put a circumflex on the "a"[:(]

[/quote]

Nimty, so sorry if I upset you, not meant to, which also proves the stupidity of accents.

French could have been the world language but they refused to simplify it, rather maintaining it as a badge of superiority ruled over by a bunch of very elderly (mainly) men or geldings.

[mint]

[quote user="suein56"]mint wrote the following post at 01 Sep 2020 18:10:

Wooly, don't be cruel; I don't know how to put a circumflex on the "a".

Now's the time to learn .. what are you using to access the forum .. tablet/laptop/pc ?[/quote]

Hi, Sue

Using a laptop but I do know how to do accents on a tablet.  You just hold the letter down until you see all the accents and you choose the one you want to use.

Years ago, I used a programme recommended to me by someone here, I think it was called Avisoft Accent or something similar.  I use it if I am writing something "official" or I am trying to impress somebody!

Otherwise unless it's an accent already on my AZERTY keyboard, I carry on merrily without!  But then I have to contend with Wooly who has pretended he doesn't understand what I have written!

I know you can get accents using key commands but I don't think I can remember the commands[:-))]

[suein56]

mint wrote the following post at 02 Sep 2020 16:37:

Otherwise unless it's an accent already on my AZERTY keyboard, I carry on merrily without! But then I have to contend with Wooly who has pretended he doesn't understand what I have written!

You're mostly there as you have most of the accents you need under the numbers, except for ù which is to the right of the M key on my keyboard.

Then there is the ^ .. this is to the right of the P key on my keyboard.

If you hold it down and also hold down the 'a' key at the same time .. â appears as if by magic .. then let go of both keys together.

Repeat with o .. ô .. and u .. û .. any letter you like.