French Newspapers Stories Used To Be About Whether They Could Financially Survive, But With The Sarkozy Presidency It’s All About Whether His Buddies (The Financiers Who Rescued Those Newspapers) Will Censor Embarrassing Stories To Remain On Good Terms

Philip M. Stone May 24, 2007

The French electorate saw Nicolas Sarkozy as the new breath of fresh air that will pull France firmly into the 21st Century. But he does have an Achilles Heel – 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.
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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.

Case in point: The Lagardère media group’s 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.

Managing editor Jacques Espérandieu acknowledged he received calls “insisting on the very private and personal nature” of this information – he did not say who made the calls but many believe they came from publisher Arnaud Lagardère -- and Espérandieu said he killed the story because he could not get a reaction from Cécilia Sarkozy or anyone close to her and because he thought the information was “a private matter.”

Lagardère is very close to Sarkozy – he attended the very private dinner given the night of Sarko’s election win and has even referred a couple of years ago to Sarkozy as his “brother”. It would not be the first time that alleged Sarkozy pressure, or actions by those who wish to remain close to Sarkozy, has had an effect at a Lagardère publication. Last summer the editor of Paris Match was replaced, allegedly for the news weekly’s cover story with many pictures showing Mrs. Sarkozy with her then alleged lover in New York – a public embarrassment not appreciated by Mr. Sarkozy.

Mr. and Mrs. Sarkozy have since got back together but it is no secret in France that  the relationship is not all it could be, something that elsewhere in the democratic world would have the tabloid press in a frenzy. But this is France, and while the Paparazzi might follow her every move, especially outside the country, for the scandales they would hope to uncover, the country’s strict privacy laws could contain much of the possible damage. Add to that publishers not willing to offend, and it remains to be seen how much of her comings and goings actually get into print.

She has described First Lady chores as “boring”. When French television showed Mr. and Mrs. Sarkozy being driven through the streets of Paris with police escort after his victory journalists on motor cycles were allowed to get surprisingly close to the car. It was easy to spot that she was sitting as far as she could on one side of the car’s back seat talking incessantly on her mobile phone while he sat as far as he could on the other side waving occasionally to the crowds. It seemed never a word was spoken between them. And as for the dress for the occasion, she wore a gray sweater and white slacks – not exactly Paris chic.

Reporters Without Borders got into the Journal du Dimanche affair noting, “Respect for privacy is very important, but under no circumstances should it be used to suppress news and information that is unquestionably of public interest,” the press freedom organization said. “We obviously cannot forget the precedent of Alain Genestar’s dismissal as executive editor of Paris Match, also owned by the Lagardère group, after publishing a photo of Cécilia Sarkozy with her then partner in August, 2005. Even if we are not in the habit of meddling in the internal editorial decisions of privately-owned news media, we urge journalists to be on their guard. Given Nicolas Sarkozy’s friendship with several media group owners, we will be very watchful as his presidential term gets under way, and we will be ready to criticize anything resembling government pressure on the media.”

According to Jean Daniel, the legendary French journalist who co-founded the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur and who still serves as its editorial director, Sarkozy was not beyond calling his media publisher friends during the election. In a recent speech Daniel said, “We know that Sarkozy is an impulsive person who uses the telephone surprisingly. Recently he called his friend Edouard de Rothschild (publisher of the far-left Libération) to complain about Libération’s stand against him, and Rothschild called upon the newspaper’s staff to moderate their criticism against Sarkozy.” (If there is any French newspaper that would give Sarkozy hell for his politics it would be Libération so one would think that request fell on death ears).

Daniel said he did not believe that Sarkozy would ever actually resort to censorship, “but he will create difficulties for journalists.”

Journalists have fought back and the basic bottom line seems to be that if a publication stops a story then that story appears elsewhere – on independent Internet sites if necessary. Libération printed a letter from Journal du Dimanche journalists accusing Lagardère of interference. “You intervened Saturday, contacting newsroom management, so that the article wouldn’t be published. This is unacceptable censorship, contrary to press freedom.” The letter was backed by other Hachette Filipacchi Media journalists who asked Lagardère to guarantee editorial independence within the company’s media. The company has not commented.

All of this is an embarrassment in itself and Sarkozy seemed at pains on inauguration day to show everything was a-ok in the Sarkozy family. Moments after making his first speech as head of state Sarkozy approached Cecilia, their young son Louis and their four children by previous marriages and he gave his 49-year-old wife an affectionate caress on the cheek with television catching every move. She appeared surprised, but later during a reception she kissed her husband on the lips after a brief hesitation as he went to peck her on the cheek.

What is clear is that Sarkozy has friends in high media quarters. Multi-billionaire Martin Bouygues, ranked 214th on the Forbes World's Rich List, is godfather to Sarkozy’s son.  Bouygues has a major share holding in TF1, the most popular French TV station whose news ratings are well ahead of the public broadcaster. This week TF1 appointed as a director Laurent Solly, 36, Sarkozy’s former deputy campaign manager and his chief of staff when he was Interior Minister.

In June 2005 Lagardère referred to Sarkozy as “a brother” and Sarkozy counts as close friends Serge Dassault, whose group owns Socpresse, that includes the national newspaper Le Figaro, and Edouard de Rothschild (Libération publisher)

With friends like that there certainly is the power to pressure that unwanted stories do not see the light of day, but if French journalists are going to be as vigilant as they claim then they will find other ways to get the information out that their own publications might ban.

For those who have always questioned whether French journalism is really free of government pressure, the Sarkozy Presidency should provide some interesting answers.

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