The New Watchdogs Page #2

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We thank you,

ladies and gentlemen

of the political press

who substantially shape

our compatriots' opinions.

To all of you,

I extend my deepest thanks.

You play a clear role

in keeping our democracy alive.

These people aren't freelance

or part-time journalists.

They're the stars of the trade.

They shape the news

and the political and economic debate

in France.

If you look at the se celebrities,

you see the y're very similar

to politicians and business leaders.

They have many social traits in common.

They share the same social background.

Looking at famous French journalists,

you see very few

from working-class or rural families.

You find plenty of doctors' children,

diplomats' and industrialists' children.

Coming from similar backgrounds,

the y're familiar with each other.

They've also had the same education.

We think most journalists

went to journalism school,

but Ockrent, Pujadas and Elkabbach,

for example,

all graduated from Sciences Po.

Claire Chazal and Emmanuel Chain

are HEC alumni.

So the se star journalists

aren't ordinary reporters.

They're tight with

the people they interview.

When it comes down to it,

the y're all from the same world.

They're like one big family.

Some went into politics,

some into business,

some into journalism.

That's the feeling you get.

They share the same lifestyle,

the same values, the same friendships.

They stay at the same hotels,

they vacation in the same places.

It really is a family.

"I'll roar and claw

to defend my husband"

This closeness

is so real

that it sometimes turns to passion.

Overt love affairs,

displayed and sold in glossy magazines.

Where else but in France,

the homeland of love?

AUDREY AND ARNAUD

IN LOVE FOR ALL TO SEE

OCKRENT "I'M COMING BACK"

Christine Ockrent

went one step further.

In 2008, when her husband

was Foreign Minister,

she was appointed deputy chief

of foreign broadcasting

by the French President himself.

France Monde,

France's new world broadcasting service,

will oversee

newborn TV channel France 24,

French-speaking TV 5 Monde,

and Radio France Internationale.

Alain de Pouzilhac will head the group,

seconded by Christine Ockrent.

M. Pouzilhac

is a presidential appointee,

as is his deputy, Christine Ockrent.

40 years after Peyrefitte,

the freedom of the press

has made great strides.

The Minister no longer needs

to hype his government's policy on TV.

His wife does it for him every day.

It seems antiquated...

or Soviet.

In my opinion, Claire Chazal,

money and politics

should be kept separate.

Neither should control the other,

especially if the money

also owns big media companies.

This news program made history.

For the first time

since it was privatized,

a party leader challenged

TF1's independence, live on air.

Not because its journalists

were in league with politicians

but because France's top TV channel

was funded by big business.

Believe me,

the country is in trouble

when very big financial

and industrial interests

are combined with

very big media interests

and also have very close links

with the Government.

Attacked by a parliamentarian

who voted to privatize TF1 in 1987,

Claire Chazal fights back.

The channel's star anchor

won't let anyone

slander her employer,

the Bouygues Group.

And she's not the only journalist

to be employed by a conglomerate.

Here's an example,

this time from public TV.

Tonight there's a meeting

of two big media stars.

One is a famous variety show host,

the other a former news anchor.

Michel Drucker,

past and future employee

of the Lagardere Group,

plays host to Jean-Pierre Elkabbach,

past and present employee

of the same Group.

And who is their guest?

Arnaud Lagardere, their boss.

Arnaud, thanks a million.

We rarely see you.

You keep a low profile.

You usually avoid the limelight.

You're here for Jean-Pierre,

whom you've known

since he advised your father.

But first, a word about the Group.

Lagardere is one of the world's biggest

media and hi-tech conglomerates.

Our viewers have no idea how deeply

it penetrates their daily lives.

Books, magazines, radio stations,

airplanes...

- Careful, the y'll quote you.

- Am I far off?

Not far off, but keep it quiet.

Above all, the Group

is a fantastic human adventure

involving 250,000 people

all around the world.

Arnaud Lagardere is right

to correct Michel Drucker.

The Group he heads

is a fantastic human adventure,

not an all-invading monopoly.

To prove it, we will show

that it's perfectly possible

to spend a day

without the Lagardere Group.

Let's take an average Frenchman,

Monsieur Lambert.

He wakes up to Europe 1,

Lagardere's flagship radio station.

But equally well, he can listen

to Radio Classique, owned by LVMH.

Going to work, he can buy a paper

from one of Lagardere's 1,000 outlets...

or pick up a free sheet

published by the Bollor Group.

At the office,

his workmates

can browse a Lagardere website

or a Lagardere magazine...

but Lambert can read

the Dassault Group's newspaper.

On his way home,

Lambert can buy one of

Lagardere's 20 magazines...

or one owned by the PPR Group.

Back home, Lambert can surf

Lagardere's eight TV channels...

or watch the evening news

on Bouygues-owned TF1.

In my opinion,

money and politics

should be kept separate.

A day without Arnaud Lagardere

comes at the price

of consorting with

a similar bunch

of big business

bosses,

all with big media holdings...

and all jockeying

for government contracts.

Selling information

gives them two things:

Political clout

and money.

France is unusual in having

large media corporations

that live off

government contracts.

"Bricks and Bullets",

Bouygues and Lagardere.

This is clearly an unhealthy situation

for the media

but very profitable for the companies.

The political leverage it gives the m

is deeply corrupting.

Martin Bouygues,

France's 17th richest man

The concentration

and financialization of the media

has a big impact.

Obviously,

economics can't explain everything

but no explanation

is complete without it.

We can't understand

the impoverishment of information

if we ignore

the relentless drive to cut costs

much more savagely

than the printed press,

especially the national dailies,

which are happy

to clear just enough profit

to invest moderately

and pay their workers' wages.

The profit-hunters

aim to make

the media as profitable

as any cutting-edge

economic sector.

Claire Chazal,

I am not criticizing Nicolas Sarkozy

for his closeness

to some very powerful

business leaders.

He makes no secret of it.

He even flaunts it in the papers,

as you know.

Bayrou had good reason to begrudge

the se tycoons' friendship

with his rival

presidential candidate, Sarkozy.

On May 6th 2007, no less than four

of the se media magnates

gathered at Fouquet's restaurant

to toast the new president's victory.

The well-publicized familiarity

between our dear President Sarkozy

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