The French press has been facing significant economic problems over time. It is called to be in a state of agony or severe and chronic crisis at least. No wonder then that the French State has been intervening into its print media sector rather generously and at length. It would probably not have survived without the many forms of state-mandated cash handouts to keep its ailing print media industry afloat. However, as the title of our chapter indicates, many of these current state subsidies are more than controversial and thus needed to be analysed carefully and in depth.