Saturday, November 05, 2005

French Journalists' "Concerns": A Desire to Put Events "Into Perspective", to Not Pour "Oil on the Fire", and to "Appease"

Responsable de l'information sur France Inter, Geneviève Goetzinger insiste sur le "travail permanent de mise en perspective".
writes the AFP (merci à Arcturus)

Putting events "into perspective".

The journalists' "concerns".

A desire to "appease".

Not pouring "oil on the fire".

At the France Inter radio station, it is pointed out that in recent days several programs … have presented the positive experiences taken on a social and a cultural level in the banlieue towns.
Let us be generous for a moment and not call this flagrant censorship (even when media bigwigs turn off their comments section, so as not to show dissenting opinions — running 10-1 against the rioters — to the overriding "correct" thought of hand-wringing compassion with humiliated French youth).

Still: all this would be a lot more palatable, of course, if members of the French media, the French élite, and France's society at large made an effort to be somewhat consistent with their outlook and not use double standards. Double standards that happen to be self-serving, needless to say, and favor themselves.

As it happens, whenever a drama befalls the United States, there are few voices asking to put the events in question into perspective.

As for "positive experiences", a Wall Street Journal column and a website have existed for the past couple of years giving the good news from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the least that can be said is that French leaders, citizens, and media outlets have not gone out of the way to broach that subject.

Au contraire, the desire to put things into perspective rarely touches Uncle Sam, as the following in-depth articles can ascertain.

The 60th Anniversary Celebration of Le Monde

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