Nicolas Sarkozy, a Berlusconi wannabe?

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



Le Téléprésident: Sarkozy tightens his grip over French state TV·
Opposition accuses of 'Berlusconi-style' tactics

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris The Guardian,
Friday June 27, 2008



Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to increase government control over state TV yesterday sparked an outcry from his political opponents who accused him of tightening a Berlusconi-style grip on the airwaves and dragging France back into its dark age of postwar censorship and propaganda.

The French president's proposed "cultural revolution" for France's five state TV channels prompted an uproar when he announced that in future, he and his cabinet would appoint the head of French state TV, instead of an independent body.

Sarkozy, known as the Téléprésident, prides himself on his numerous TV appearances, carefully studies his own ratings and has privately confided that he would have liked to have been a TV executive. So it was no surprise that he took direct control of the project to overhaul French state TV. He argued that a government appointment of the head of France Televisions was more "democratic". This has reopened the festering row over the president's influence over the media and closeness to his press and TV baron friends who are willing to lean on, censor or even sack journalists who displease him.

Last month, a fresh row erupted after Sarkozy was accused of influencing the appointment of a newsreader, Laurence Ferrari, to the leading private channel TF1, run by one of the his closest friends. Her ousted predecessor was rumoured to have upset the president, who is conscious of his height, by asking if he ever felt "like a little boy in a big boy's playground".

The left-leaning daily Liberation yesterday ran a front page headline: "France Sarkovision". Staff at state TV and radio unfurled banners saying "Television hold-up" in protest against any future government appointment of their boss. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/27/france.television

[Kutjara]

1. Well, now, if "cultural revolution" isn't...

...a term just chock-full of the most wonderful historical connotations. I'm pretty sure he used it without even a peripheral awareness of its sinister meaning. After all, history isn't all about him, so it's understandable he wouldn't be familiar with it.

[iquiring mind]

2. Fairness doctrine is no different

I don't want a government bureaucrat deciding who gets to say what, when and on what station in this country either.

When the 'Party in Charge' changes in Washington, that bureaucrat would change and then push their agenda.

[Kutjara]

3. The current model of...

...allowing huge media conglomerates to decide what "the people want" isn't all that great, either. Our airwaves are full of right-wing talking points, reheated government propaganda, celebrity gossip, hate speech and dumbed-down feelgood "news." I think it's pretty clear that large corporations are not good stewards of the fourth estate, being as they are more interested in turning a buck than the truth.

[iquiring mind]

4. It's not perfect but,

it's better than allowing the Government to be the steward. Then there would be only one conglomerate and it would be called Pravda.

[Kutjara]

5. It's pretty damned far from perfect.

Actually, I'd say the MSM is closer to being "Pravda" under the current regime that under a "fairness doctrine." The major news outlets uncritically parrot whatever BushCo tells them, while blithely ignoring or denigrating dissenting views. But because the news outlets are "private corporations" rather than "government departments" (as if there's any real difference between the two these days), they can pretend to be free from political influence.

At least if news was openly controlled by the government, everyone would know it was bullshit. As it stands, it's the same bullshit, only everyone colludes in the deception that it's true.