the 14th of July exercise is a ritualised press-conference where the president "answers" questions. It's not very different from some WH press-conferences. It's supposed to be softball. Try to ask a nasty question to a US president and you'll never be invited again. Besides Chirac does other press conferences, often abroad and does "answer" questions even from French journalists covering the event. As all presidents do. It's the name of the game in many (all?) countries (even in Nordic countries) so what is the "real journalist" supposed to do ? watch TV and comment ? Mr Clean ?

Refuse the Legion of Honor ? why not abolish it when you are at it. This is only posturing.

the "tutoyer" story is a false debate too. It mainly happens in infotainment's programs when the politician want to show he is "one of the guys"... big deal...

About the last one, there is a real problem. But it concerns only a minority. And nobody can accuse Christine Ockrent or Anne Sinclair of doing a bad job because one is married to Kouchner and the other to DSK.

The author of the comment seems to ignore the fact that the vast majority of French journalists are leaning to the left and the ones on the other side a minority, and a well known one. Too bad if the lefties can't avoid Segolene's blunders. Probably we wouldn't have heard this comment (except from a right-winger) when a socialist is in charge. Normally in the later case the public-service is compared to the Pravda.

Real information, vital information always leak out, sooner or later. For whatever interests it may serve.

I think that the problem with the French media (besides the fact that the system lacks "automatic" transparency like in the Nordic countries, but that's another story) is that French journalists (as many other journalists in other countries) have a very high opinion of themselves and prefer to drink wine at the local Café with their friends and wonder what pun could be the neat one for the latest headline of the article they copy from Reuters or AFP, instead of doing investigating journalism. Because the later is so much harder to do, and in the end the paycheck won't be higher. This is the real problem with journalism, not stories of "tutoiement"and decorations.