No media bias in France

And Chaucescu really did always get 100 percent of the vote.

The BBC reports on media bias outside of the BBC, which makes it more palatable to the editors than looking within. They turn their lens on goings on in France, where there are journalists who are beginning to see through the Oui and Non campaigns:

«A group of journalists from French state TV and radio are so angered by what they see as one-sided propaganda campaign being broadcast on the airwaves on behalf of the government and the Yes campaign that they have set up an online petition, signed by more than 15,000 people since 1 May.

"This is a grotesque situation," says Jacques Cotta, a well-known TV correspondent for France 2 who is one of the leaders of the campaign for fair coverage in the lead-up to the referendum.

"Publicly-owned media in France are broadcasting sheer propaganda to the public, and this absence of any pluralism or any attempt to represent and discuss the point of view of those who want to vote No to the Treaty is profoundly undemocratic"»

«However, it is the role of publicly-funded and publicly-accountable state broadcasters which angers them most.

"These are broadcasters paid for by the public, and they should be reflecting both sides of the debate fairly," Jean-Marc Surcin tells me.

They were granted a lengthy meeting with Mr Baudis, in which the journalists pointed out that according to their figures, French TV and radio had given 71% of its time to the Yes campaigners, and devoted a mere 29% to the No campaign between 1 January and 31 March.»

The extremely serious issue is that of bias, not really of 'Oui ou Non'. Persistant, entranched, permanent bias was made evident in this case becuase there were enough in the Non camp to notice. For a perid, perhaps this will temper the public's view of their own media's reporting on world affairs, the War on Terror, and other grave issues of the day.