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The main TV channels and newspapers will have far more influence than smaller indie publications and channels.

You don't need to 'own the media' completely - you just need to own enough of the main opinion forming channels to create an illusion of narrative consistency for the non-chattering population.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 05:00:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
But, some of the main newspapers like Liberation and Le Monde, and one at least of the main radio channels, like France Inter, are not "small indie publications".

One of the reasons of the so far successful campaign against the Edvige police database was that the media echoed properly the citizens' voice.

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 07:08:56 AM EST
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But are Libe and Le Monde Left, or triangulated centre-Left?

How much has their position shifted over the last forty years?

To what extent do they influence and define policy compared for the FT, the Econo and the WSJ? (Even in France.)

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 07:57:44 AM EST
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Le Monde has pretty much triangulated to the center right, and Libé from left to the center left. They are however much, much more read than the English financial press, at least in politics (French politicians simply don't speak English)

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères
by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 08:35:18 AM EST
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Sarko and the UMP won a majority. Are Libe and Le Monde to the left of Sarko - I'd say yes, with Libe well to the left. Le Monde's views dovetail with the right wing of the PS - i.e. it is center-left. Libe's views tend to be those of the middle and left of the PS, i.e. it is left.

You can argue that the right wing of the PS is really center-right. However, you then also have to accept that the French electorate tilts sharply right and simply doesn't want left wing policies.

by MarekNYC on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 01:36:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Le Monde is to the left of Sarko, but Sarko ain't exactly the left wing of the UMP. Le Monde was clearly for Balladur in 1995, for example.

Libe aims for the right wing of the PS, nowadays (for example they were for the Yes in the Constitution referendum). This has changed in the last few years. They are anti-Sarkozy, but increasingly (Euro-)liberal in their economics commentary. They are center left at best, in their current incarnation.

As for the French electorate - the 2007 presidential election represents the French opinion badly, as on the left it was skewed by the need to have somebody from the left in the second round. In 2002, and in various regional elections, people calling themselves Communist gathered 15% of the vote, with other parts of the left, like the Greens, getting another 10%... And the right wing of the PS has pretty much joined Sarko. The PS has bee to the right of its electorate for quite some time.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 03:04:05 PM EST
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The question is not to know if Le Monde and Libe are Left or centre left (if it was the case could you please provide precise criteria?), but to know if some of the media were channeling left-wing narratives. I claim it is the case, mentioning Le Monde, France Inter and Libé and I could also mention Le Nouvel Observateur, Marianne and many others.

Unless you think anything to the right of Olivier Besancenot does not belong to the Left...

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

by Melanchthon on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 01:19:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]
For Liberation I am thinking very precisely of the last page of the 2007 first round of the presidential election edition, which contained an interview essentially claiming that France needed neoliberal reforms, badly.

But it is true that left narratives can be found in Le Monde and Libération, although they are not necessarily prevalent. After all, Jérôme was published there...

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Thu Sep 11th, 2008 at 03:08:00 PM EST
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