Incohérence et chauvinisme pour France 24

Nicolas sarkozy se fait épingler par le journal "The Economist".

No English, please

Jan 17th 2008 | PARIS
From The Economist print edition

The “pro-American” president takes on France's English-speaking television

“GOBSMACKED!” That is how one journalist at France 24, a television news channel, described the newsroom's reaction to President Nicolas Sarkozy's announcement that the channel should in future broadcast only in French. That such a colloquialism—in English—reverberates so readily around a French television studio shows how bilingual the channel has become in a land known for linguistic chauvinism.

France 24, jointly owned by the public broadcaster and TF1, a private station, was set up just over a year ago as a result of French exasperation at American dominance of the airwaves. The French were vexed, particularly during the invasion of Iraq, by the cheerleading of American networks, and wanted a CNN à la française. From the start, it was obvious that to offer a “French perspective” to others, it would have to broadcast in languages other than French, just as al-Jazeera knew it could not broadcast only in Arabic. France 24 began with channels in French and English; an Arabic station followed.

France 24 can be slow to react to breaking news. It has a small budget—€80m ($119m) a year—and a relatively sparse network of reporters, though it can draw on those of its sister news organisations. It has struggled to find distribution channels, notably in America. But it has turned out not to be a mere mouthpiece of French government. And it has supplied a useful alternative both in style (more long debates) and content (more, say, on Lebanese politics) to other global news channels.

So why does Mr Sarkozy want to close down its non-French channels? One reason is budgetary: he says he is “not disposed to finance a channel that does not speak French”. The other is diplomatic. “In order to present a French vision,” he says, “I would really prefer it to be presented in the French language.” The French have long considered their language to be more than a tool of communication: it is an embodiment of culture, identity and independence. To speak to the world in another language seems like a gesture of submission.

For now, France 24's English channel continues to broadcast; managers have told reporters they will lobby hard to keep the station alive. Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister, says he does not share his boss's view that it is pointless to broadcast in English. For his part, Mr Sarkozy has made a point of embracing America, advertising his love of Hollywood films, even taking his summer holiday in New Hampshire. It would be an irony indeed if the president who promised to liquidate French anti-Americanism ended up abolishing France's best example of reaching out to the English-speaking world.