Welcome to European Tribune. It's gone a bit quiet around here these days, but it's still going.
Display:
I'm saying that Sarkozy has networks of influence in the mainstream media that he has built over the years - by personal friendship with big media bosses like Martin Bouygues (TF1) and Arnaud Lagardère (world's N° 1 magazine publisher), and by influence as a top government figure over public broadcasting.

I've discussed this in diaries (see links Jérôme has usefully added above), especially:

11 in a row for Sarko
Roots vs MSM, synthesis?
The Republic of Far Far Away

As for the leftwing or centrist press, it has been under more and more pressure from big money. See:

Le Monde, Journal of Record

and a series on Libération (link goes to third part which contains links to first two parts).

To sum up: Sarko can personally pull a lot of levers in the MSM. What remains of a leftwing (or simply neutral) press is small and shaky.

So when the media tell stories, they tend to serve Sarkozy, or at least not to hurt Sarkozy. And I did find the change in storyline intriguing three weeks ago, when the media stopped running with the "Ségolène is falling out of the sky" narrative. The Canard Enchaîné at the time reported that the Sarko campaign were worried she might really disappear.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 08:22:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
A must read (in French):
Philippe Cohen interview

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
by Jerome a Paris (etg@eurotrib.com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 09:21:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
To go with this, the Arrêt sur images of a few weeks back, about Sarkozy and the journalists.

I see that the Arrêt sur images I missed yesterday was about the polls and how reliable they are. Seems to be occurring to rather a lot of people.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 11:15:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Avant, on communiquait pour expliquer son action. Pour Sarkozy, la communication devient l'action politique, totalement détachée du réel.

Is this type of politics new? Clearly its the same thing for bush, but to me it is just a modern expression of traditional politics, maybe at the extreme.

by citizen k (sansracine yahoo.fr) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 10:13:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
On tonight's BBC news, they mentioned that Sarko was slipping in the polls, so that the margin of error gave a tie between Sark and Sego.

They also mentioned that the press is afraid of Sarko's mean attitude, and expect to get the short end of a stick if he were to be elected, for saying things against him (like bringing up the land scandal.)

For a quick piece, it was a surprisingly 'balanced', if not even informative view of the many sides of Sarkozy.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 01:48:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I should have made clear, it was the BBC radio news of Europe.

Never underestimate their intelligence, always underestimate their knowledge.

Frank Delaney ~ Ireland

by siegestate (siegestate or beyondwarispeace.com) on Mon Mar 12th, 2007 at 01:49:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:

Occasional Series