France's most popular television news presenter, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, will be dumped this summer in favour of a rising female star who was once linked romantically with President Nicolas Sarkozy. Laurence Ferrari, 41, will take over in September as the figurehead of the 8pm news on the TF1 channel. There were reports last November that Ferrari had been seen dining with the recently divorced President but speculation about an imminent marriage came to nothing. Soon afterwards M. Sarkozy began his whirlwind romance with his future wife, Carla Bruni. M. Sarkozy is said, however, to have lobbied his billionaire friend, Martin Bouygues, owner of TF1, for Ferrari's promotion. There are no doubts about the journalist's ability, but her promotion was interpreted by French newspapers yesterday as part of a "Sarko-friendly" revolution at TF1. Poivre d'Arvor, 60, who has presented the show for 21 years, has slipped in the ratings in the past 12 months. He was savaged in a recent book, Madame, Monsieur, Bonsoir, by anonymous TF1 journalists, as lazy, arrogant and biased towards the centre-right.
France's most popular television news presenter, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, will be dumped this summer in favour of a rising female star who was once linked romantically with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Laurence Ferrari, 41, will take over in September as the figurehead of the 8pm news on the TF1 channel. There were reports last November that Ferrari had been seen dining with the recently divorced President but speculation about an imminent marriage came to nothing. Soon afterwards M. Sarkozy began his whirlwind romance with his future wife, Carla Bruni.
M. Sarkozy is said, however, to have lobbied his billionaire friend, Martin Bouygues, owner of TF1, for Ferrari's promotion. There are no doubts about the journalist's ability, but her promotion was interpreted by French newspapers yesterday as part of a "Sarko-friendly" revolution at TF1.
Poivre d'Arvor, 60, who has presented the show for 21 years, has slipped in the ratings in the past 12 months. He was savaged in a recent book, Madame, Monsieur, Bonsoir, by anonymous TF1 journalists, as lazy, arrogant and biased towards the centre-right.
Or they may have been too nice with Fillon. Remember, it's not enough to broadcast UMP-propaganda, you must actually deify Sarkozy and Sarkozy only. Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed. Gandhi
