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| France/USA
and their press (6) |
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 credit |
France in the U.S. press
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France and the French, as seen by the U.S. press : zero, except for clichés (fashion, food, strikes) or sensational
happenings. Conversely, whether you read about the USA as a superpower,
an economic giant, or a place where everyone's running amok with
guns, you READ about the U.S.A. every single day ! Criticizing
France and the French in the press is NOT, of course, French-bashing,
but when the same themes come back on and on, it becomes common
wisdom for French-bashers. Read more about French-bashing and
the US press.
The New York Times (NYT) gives
an excellent example of a systematically anti-French editorial
policy, but it is not the only one : The
International Herald Tribune
(IHT) can be very patronizing as well, and The
Wall Street Journal pretty
manipulative (see below).
Among the mosting shocking recent
examples :
- Misleading/prejudiced
headlines :
- "France and the United
States are at War" (read a quote
from it), "The French, Now Sniffing at Themselves"
(NYT Nov.28, 1998 on hygiene), "Easygoing, Not French
and Formal (NYT Feb.3, 1999 on American restaurants), "Anxious
French Mutter as Envoy Tries to Sell Globalism" (NYT
Dec.2,1999), etc... (NYT Sept.19, 2003).
- The headline of the cover story in Time
Magazine (Time, Nov.21, 2007) was "The Death of French
Culture" when the article itself illustrated,
on the contrary, what was new about it, especially coming from
young artists from minorities.
- See another example about France
being anti-Semitic.
- Wrong facts : in March 2003, the NYT (and the IHT)
published
- two editorials by William Safire,
"The French Connection", in which it was said
that France, China and Syria have one common reason not to want
the US and British troops in Iraq : they would make clear to
the world that these three nations have supplied Saddam Hussein
with illicit products for his missiles, etc... ; Barry Lando,
a former CBS journalist, checked the facts and established there
were wrong ; the NYT refused to publish his article, arguing
that they never publish articles which criticize their editorials
and that editorials contain opinions and not facts ; therefore,
you will not read anything about all that in the US press and
to learn more, you have to read "Le Monde" (March
26, 2003) ; read a quote
from the National Journal
- More to come
- Patronizing :
- "Having persuaded themselves
that cinema should be about art, not money, France's educated
elites have never disguised their disdain for much of what reaches
French movie and television screens from the United States...."
(I.H.T., Sept.13, 2002)
- Manipulative :
- a reporter
(Paul G.) asked me (WSJ, Feb.20, 2003) "...anecdotes
about incivility toward Americans in Paris...." ; for
anybody who ever set his/her foot in France, the question does
not make any sense ; I am sure it will make a "balanced"
article with 50% of the article about Americans ill-treated in
Paris, and 50% of other stories. What was the Editor looking
for ?
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- Editorial policy :
- just remember the campaign of
all US media in 2003-2004 about France denying the existence
of Weapons of Massive Destruction in Iraq..... No apologies were
ever publisehd !
- the campaign about "anti-semitism
in France" in Spring 2002 did not correspond to real facts
in France at this time but it caused a lot of damage in the US
public opinion. Read a letter
to the International Herald Tribune, by an American living
in France.
- Choice
of words :
- "The French surrender
again" (about cigarette ban in restaurants) (Herald, Everett,
WA Jan.2008)
- When the police forces dispersed
troublemakers with water canons after a huge student demonstration
(March 28, 2006) with nobody seriously injured, CNN said it was
"like Tienanmen" (with hundreds injured
or killed by tanks).
- During the riots in November
2005, many US medias (and CNN systematically) headlined "Muslim
Riots in Paris"
which was totally and doubly wrong : there was nothing religious
in these riots. Any other term would have been acceptable for
these riots : urban, youth, jobless, black and arab, desperate,
violent, etc.. but "muslim" was a deliberate bias to
the truth ("Muslim Riots" is as ridiculous as "Masculine
Riots" although they're all males...). In addition to that,
the riots took place in distant suburbs and not in Paris, which
is a second bias.
- "Where a friend would
be described as "steadfast", for example, France is
"adamant". Her spokesmen "snipe" at
our position, where a friend would merely "criticize",
writes John L.Hess,
former correspondent of The New York Times in Paris, in
his book, written in 1968 and which could have been written in
2003 ! Read more
about it.
- "Germany and France,
whose economies are moribund and where unemployment is
high..." (International Herald Tribune, Sept.10, 2004,
First page article). According to The American Heritage Dictionary
of the English Language, "moribund" means "at
the point of death". A little exagerated, isn't it ?
- Biased presentation :
- when the World Health Organization
ranked France's health system 1rst and the USA's 39th out of
191 countries (see : Sick
in France), the NYT headline (June 21, 2000) was "Europeans
Perform Highest in Ranking of World Health", it mentioned
France as ranking "in the top five" and indicated the
American ranking only in the tenth paragraph... (this is quoted
by Edward C.Knox, in a well documented article : The New York
Times Looks at France, The French Review, N°6, Vol.75,
May 2002).
- Another bias is abstain from
mentioning an information if favourable to the French
: it is widely used about anti-semitism : read about a recent
example of lying
by omission and see my
editorial about it.
Visit miquelon.org, the authoritative site on French-bashing,
with appalling quotes and links to racist and hate sites. See
a few examples
and more about French-bashing.
Hate the French ? See a list
of a few anti-French books...
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America in the French press
The media in France :
misc. facts & figures
- The
French read more magazines than comparable countries ;
the most circulated are L'Express or Le Point (like
Time or Newsweek), Le Nouvel Observateur
(more Left-wing),VSD and many others ; contrary to the
USA, they are sold much more by copy than by subscription. Read
Paris Diary about kiosques.
Every Wednesday, the whole political class reads, anxiously,
Le Canard Enchainé (the Chained Duck), a very well-informed
political newspaper..
- The French read less newspapers
than comparable countries : Ouest-France (regional, 800,000),
L'Equipe (daily, sports only, 500,000), Le Figaro
(center-Right, 400,000), Le Monde (center-Left, 300,000),
younger and more left-wing people read Libération,
business people read Les Echos or La Tribune ;
many commuters read one of the free newspapers (Metro
or 20 Minutes).
- As in the USA there are hundreds
of TV channels through cable or satellite, but the most
watched (free) channels are TF1 (private, around 30% of
the audience), Antenne 2 (state-owned, similar audience),
France 3 (regional, state-owned, number 1 outside Paris),
M6 (private), etc ; there is also Canal + (private,
by subscription, sports and movies) ; in France, the national
news on TV is at 8pm. See facts & figures about French TV channels.
- See French radio
stations and French Internet (to be completed).
- About the freedom of the
press, contrary to what many Americans think, France is not
very different from the USA and France ranks #31 in the RSF
ranking (USA #48)
- More to come....
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Certain subjects are recurrent in the French press
and represent some problems
of the French society which are not being addressed adequately
and/or on which the country is deeply divided; they include :
- Corsica : discussions with leaders who are pro or against
more autonomy, bombings by autonomists, etc
- The privatization of major state-owned
utilities : EDF (Electricité de France), France Telecom,
GDF (Gaz de France), etc
- Immigration : how to limit
it ? Often linked with serious problems in the poorest suburbs
: crime, unemployment, problems in schools, controversy about
the islamic veil, etc
- Social Security : its increasing
cost and how to control fraud and waste
- How can France join Europe and
still keep its traditions, its social system and remain different
?
- More about the most frequently
covered events in the
French press
- More to come
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For more on intercultural
differences, order Harriet Welty Rochefort's
books :
- "French Toast, An American in Paris Celebrates
The Maddening Mysteries of the French",
St.Martin's Press, New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers of An American
in Paris", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
Together or separately, Philippe
and Harriet speak about Intercultural
Differences : click
here for information.
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