PSB-The French way

As the debate continues over public service broadcasting in the Uk,it may be prudent to take a look at what is happening over the Channel in France.

Follow the media looks at what is calls the Sarkovision as the French president who has admiited that if he had not become a polititian,he would have started a Tv channel,looks to stamp his mark on the French broadcasting system

since January,he has been on a crusade to reform French public broadcasting in its totality. A presidential commission chaired by Jean-François Copé delivered its plan last week. The two most apparent steps to that reform are changes in organization and finance.

But one area of note has been the backward steps in its independence from the state,including,

that in the future the French president would name France Télévisions chief executive.

Unlike the Uk,French Psb contains advertising and Sarkozy is keen to eliminate this by

Ad revenue lost to French public broadcasting would be made up by a 3% tax on private broadcasting revenues, as much as €80 million. In addition – and not inconspicuously – telephone (not limited to mobile operators) operators and internet service providers will be charged 0.9% of their revenue for the support of public broadcasting. And that bill – certainly passed on to consumers – would add as much as €380 million annually.

Note suprisingly the private sector is up in arms as it willbe footing the bill to subidise the PSB sector

Sarkozy mania hits the Sun

As Sarkozy mania continues to dominate the media,hats off to this morning's Sun which managed to get two stories into one on its front page.

Under the headline,French are top Gaul scorers,the paper reports that

FRANCE scored twice last night as its football team beat England 1-0 and President Nicolas Sarkozy cuddled up with wife Carla in a Windsor Castle bed.

and further more the paper has an insider in the palace

But Mr Sarkozy and sexy former supermodel Carla had a far more enjoyable time as they side-stepped royal protocol.
The couple — wed less than two months — were given a traditional TWO-bedroom apartment with a door in between for their castle sleepover. But according to a royal source, Mr Sarkozy swiftly abandoned HIS designated room to join gorgeous Carla in HER four-poster bed.

Is the Sarkozy walk out typical of American interviewers?

Interesting thoughts from Steve Borris on the aftermath of Sarkozy's walkout on American TV.

the question that must be asked is not why Sarkozy would act the way he did, but why a seasoned American reporter like CBS’ Stahl felt she could act the way she did, by asking such a personal, inappropriate, and disrespectful question.

Steve adds,

The sad truth is that many American journalists like Stahl cultivate reputations for being brave by acting in a rude and intimidating manner when they are on home soil, where Americans fear their power. But when they are abroad with foreign leaders, they rarely show such bravery, and often allow the most heinous dictators to tell their stories the way they want them told

I couldn't agree more with you Steve.Some much for journalism being the 4th estate.Journalism is about keeping our politicians in check,not discussing private lives that have no bearing on their abilities to perform their public duty.

Sarkozy walks out

And Nicholas Sarkozy became the latest in a long line of politicans to walk out of an nterview.

Unlike such luminaries as John Nott and Norman Tebbit,this concerned questions about his recent break up of his marriage.

According to ABC news

France's president abruptly ended a "60 Minutes" interview aimed at introducing him to U.S. audiences, dubbing it "stupid" and a "big mistake" and refusing to answer questions about his wife.

It is not just love handles

Well it certainly wouldn’t happen in Britain.

French president Nicholas Sarkozy has already in his short time in office been accused of manipulating the media including having his love handles removed.

An article in the courier ( via Editors Weblog) though look at the other side of the coin

The French media are holding back on the reported break up of his marriage despite the overwhelming evidence.

Suggests the article

“This isn’t only a question of ethics. Many press group heads have a good relationship with the president. “As long as the news isn’t official, it doesn’t exist,”

I compare the treatment of French politicans with a piece in this morning’s Telegraph about a far less important development in the life of Tony Blair.

The Daily Telegraph has been given an exclusive glimpse inside Winslow Hall, a Grade I listed manor house which the Blairs have recently viewed.
Remember just viewed not purchased,the paper speculates

Quite how the couple would be able to afford Winslow Hall, in addition to their current mortgage commitments of around £5 million, is unclear.
However the fact that Mrs Blair has viewed the property twice is an indication of the couple's confidence in their post-Downing Street earning power.

French gossip about to break?

An interesting piece from Follow the Media arrived in my email box this morning.

Whilst we in this country have been concerning ourselves with the suppresion of information from MP'S,French journalists may be about to commence a battle with the new regime of Nicholas Sarkozy.

During the recent election campaign there was a great deal of rumour abouit the whereabouts of Sarkozy's wife Cecilia.


According to Philip Stone

he is very sensitive to media reports about his private
life, especially his marriage – it seems to be a very “French” marriage -- and
there are already signs that his buddies who now own many French newspapers do
not wish to offend by having their media report “Sarko’s” personal
embarrassments

. and

since journalists for the most part are somewhat left of
Sarkozy’s politics, while the newspaper ownership is probably right of his
politics, it means that the battle lines are drawn, and the journalists say that
censorship attempts will fail -- the banned stories will just show up
elsewhere.

Which they have done including

Journal du Dimanche discovered via some neat
investigation of looking at the election rolls that Mrs. Sarkozy’s signature was
absent next to her name, meaning she did not vote in the second and
deciding round of elections that propelled her husband to power. But that story
never saw the light of day in the newspaper.

The rumours are that those in positions of influence and power excerted some undue pressure on the publication to supress the story.Of course the French guard the privacy of its celebs and polititians to a greater degree that we do over here.However the ghosts of this very French marriage may soon be able to spill