French media silent over Sarkozy's unorthodox press conference performance
When Nicolas Sarkozy drinks, the French media lose focus. This month, for his final press conference at the end of the G8 summit in Germany, the new French president surprised reporters with some very peculiar behaviour. Out of breath, burping (discreetly), smiling for unknown reasons, the usually media-savvy Sarkozy wasn't in his normal state, at least for the first minute of the press conference. Was it worth mentioning? No, if the French media are to be believed. Not a word was published or broadcast for four days.
The story emerged from somewhere else. The next day, Eric Boever, a news anchor for the Belgian TV channel RTBF, decided to show the footage, with the comment that "apparently, he had more than just water to drink". Immediately, the clip was posted on YouTube and the rumour spread like wildfire. The pictures were commented on in blogs and on internet forums, each explaining the images with a different conspiracy theory (Vladimir Putin, whom Sarkozy had just met, had "offered him vodka" being one of the most popular). Meanwhile, the French media still kept quiet.
The silence was eventually broken by Libération, a left-wing newspaper, on Monday 11 June. Le Figaro, very supportive of Sarkozy, went with a short story two days later when the Belgian news anchor officially apologised for the story. France's two main TV channels, TF1 and France 2, have not broadcast anything. Meanwhile, footage posted on the internet has been watched more than ten million times in France.
Whether Sarkozy was indeed drunk is not really the point. It is well known that the French president never drinks. Moreover, there was no journalist watching his meeting with Putin, so it is pointless to speculate about any vodka that might have filled glasses. But why have the French media kept so quiet about a story that was a water-cooler moment for millions of French people? Daniel Schneidermann, who runs a weekly TV show scrutinising the media, argued in a column for Libération that it illustrates the usual behaviour of French journalists towards politicians.
"The scene, broadcast live on other 24-hour news channels, could have made a story for Vingt Heures [the main television news bulletin]. They could have asked questions about the reasons for such presidential behaviour. But no way. You can't be serious."
The story would be funny if it didn't exemplify the strange relationship between Sarkozy and the media. The new president is a master of communication, controlling every detail. And he doesn't hesitate to show muscle if needed. When Paris Match, France's largest weekly news magazine, published pictures of his wife, Cécilia, with another man in 2005, Sarkozy called his good friend Arnaud Lagardère... the owner of Paris Match. The following summer, the editor was fired. When Cécilia didn't cast her vote during the second round of the presidential elections, Le Journal du Dimanche - which had the story first - decided not to break the news. It is owned by Lagardère.
The decision is another example of the strange media ownership structure in France. The main TV channel, TF1, is owned by Bouygues, a construction group that makes a large part of its turnover from public contracts. Le Figaro's owner is Dassault, an arms dealer, even more dependent on good relations with the French government. Lagardère was once an arms dealer, and still owns a strategic share in EADS, the pan-European planes and weapons company. Add to this mix a public broadcaster that was, until the late 1970s, a mouthpiece for the government, and you have a weak media environment.
The paradox is that this is no longer sufficient to block news, the internet being almost impossible to control. But, instead of getting balanced and checked news, the French are condemned to rely on rumour and internet gossip.
Eric Albert is UK correspondent for La Croix, a French daily newspaper
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