|
|
|
 |
Donate Here By Secure Server
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! Thanks Registered |
|
Posted on 10/11/2003 2:51:39 PM PDT by OESY
It is the wish of every newspaper to cover the news, not to be the news. So by any measure, this has been an unhappy year for Le Monde, France's best known and weightiest newspaper. Since February, four books have dragged the daily, and particularly its ruling triumvirate, through the mud. And to make things worse, much of the rest of the French press has been enjoying the spectacle.
Now, Daniel Schneidermann, Le Monde's longtime television columnist, has been fired for publishing "The Media Nightmare." Devoting 35 pages of the 281-page book to his own employer, the author bemoans the failure of top editors to respond adequately to the charges detailed in one of the books, "The Hidden Face of Le Monde" by Pierre Péan and Philippe Cohen.
Calling the newspaper a "modern-day Pravda" run in a "climate of fear," Mr. Péan and Mr. Cohen — like other critics — have charged that Le Monde has betrayed the trust of its readers by violating an unwritten pact of honesty and transparency. And they blame the tightly knit "troika" that took control of the center-left afternoon paper in 1994 — Jean-Marie Colombani, editor in chief and chief executive; Edwy Plenel, chief news editor; and Alain Minc, a businessman who is chairman.
Mr. Colombani sees the attacks as a function of Le Monde's success in restoring its influence. "The fact is that Le Monde disturbs," he said in a telephone interview. "It is an institutional newspaper that disturbs — and that is its job. So regularly throughout its history it has faced great offensives, always with the same criticism. It is always that we have betrayed the old Monde."
In "The Media Nightmare," which was published last week, Mr. Schneidermann recounts that when he tried to organize a televised debate between his senior editors and the authors of "The Hidden Face of Le Monde," Mr. Plenel shouted at him: "I need to know if you are with us or against us, Schneidermann. Choose your side, comrade." He adds that, in his view, Le Monde should have responded forthrightly to that book rather than behave like "a Sicilian clan provoked by a rival clan."
When Mr. Schneidermann sent the galleys of the relevant pages of his own book to Mr. Colombani before publication, however, the reaction was swift. A few days later, the decision to fire him was taken. On Oct. 2, the publication date of "The Media Nightmare," Mr. Schneidermann's 25-year-long association with Le Monde was terminated.
It was this abrupt dismissal, more than "The Media Nightmare" itself, that brought the internal strife at Le Monde back into the headlines, with the leftist daily Libération dedicating its entire back page to a profile of Mr. Schneidermann. A labor union representing some journalists added fuel, complaining that "this decision is exceptional in the history of the newspaper and sets a precedent by creating a kind of thought-crime."
Surprisingly, Le Monde fed the debate by allowing Mr. Schneidermann to publish a valedictory column in which he protested that a newspaper that felt free to criticize everyone could not tolerate criticism of its own senior editors. Alongside his column, Le Monde printed excerpts from the letter dismissing him for denigrating the newspaper to which, it said, he owed "a minimum of loyalty."
Neither Mr. Schneidermann's book, nor the other new books — a bitter memoir, "My Part in Le Monde," published this summer by Alain Rollat, and "The Power of Le Monde: When a Newspaper Wants to Change France," by Bernard Poulet, — has had an impact comparable to that of "The Hidden Face," however. That book has sold more than 200,000 copies since its publication in February of this year.
Its authors boasted a series of embarrassing revelations about the secret political and financial arrangements made by the men at the top. Among these was what they claimed was evidence that Le Monde bent its coverage of the 1995 presidential election campaign to favor one candidate, Édouard Balladur, who was in fact defeated. They also accused Mr. Colombani of altering Le Monde's financial report to hide losses over two years.
Le Monde's news staff was shaken. While reporters recognized that the book was rife with mistakes, they demanded answers to other charges in two heated assemblies. In response, Mr. Colombani and Mr. Plenel portrayed the book as an attack on the entire paper and sued Mr. Péan and Mr. Cohen for libel. The case is to be heard in the spring.
As for Mr. Schneidermann, Mr. Colombani said on Friday: "His chapter on Le Monde is odious. I ask you, in what newspaper in the world can a journalist attack his own newspaper without facing a sanction?"
|
|
|
|
|
Donate Here By Secure Server
FreeRepublic , LLC PO BOX 9771 FRESNO, CA 93794
|
|
It is in the breaking news sidebar! Thanks Registered |
|
 |
 Schadenfreude  |
How Clintonian, no denial, no facts, just an attack.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.