A feud over press freedom boils over in France


And you thought the trip to Maine was all about fishing, eh?


Mr. and Mrs. President

First, President Nicolas Sarkozy’s party accused Agence France-Presse of “censorship” for not publishing one of its press releases. Ten days later, the government suggested that the news agency create a service dedicated to publishing press releases…

The UMP, as Sarkozy’s party is known, has issued four additional statements accusing AFP of “censoring the statements of our movement.” And last Wednesday, Sarkozy himself joined the fray.

At a reception for center-right lawmakers, the president accused the press of being lenient on the opposition…

Still, he has some loyal allies: In this week’s edition of Paris Match, Sarkozy is on the front page with his wife, Carla.

The first lady was allowed to pick the photographs and write the captions for the article, according to a journalist at the magazine, who declined to be identified. In one of those captions, she described herself as the president’s “ray of sunlight.”

Well. Finally, Europols are learning that The Press should be managed on the American model.

Posted: Tue - May 13, 2008 at 08:10 AM