PARIS Is Nicolas Sarkozy strangling Jacques Chirac's baby?
In 2002, as Fox News embeds cheered on American troops in Iraq, then-president Chirac had a vision: a French CNN framing Gallic views in English in a global battle of "images and airwaves."
After a long gestation period, France24 launched in December 2006. Just a year later, Sarkozy appeared to deliver a death sentence.
"With taxpayers' money, I'm not prepared to broadcast a channel that does not speak French," he said Jan. 8, speaking at the Elysee Palace in his first major press conference since his election in May. Also, he added, France24 should merge with TV5Monde, an international news feed, and Radio France Intl., spawning an umbrella org akin to the BBC World Service.
Sarkozy's views are understandable. French presidents are remembered for their TV passion projects. Francois Mitterand launched TV5Monde, Chirac France24.
A France24 overhaul is a necessary hallmark of a grand president with a vision of his own. France24 also has budgetary issues. The government needs to prune costs wherever it can, even at France24, with its paltry E86 million ($127.3 million) budget.
Richard Sambrook, director of the BBC's Global News Division, has claimed that combining BBC World Service radio, BBC World television and overseas online services hiked auds 10% last year.
"An umbrella organization would be good in terms of finance, cost-cutting, editorial content, market share and penetration," agrees Alain Modot, at Media Consulting Group.
Chirac hasn't commented on Sarkozy's France24 plans. Under investigation for creating fake jobs while Paris mayor, he may need all the presidential indulgence he can get. But France24 staff andobservers were flabbergasted. It bucks an international trend: Qatar-based Al-Jazeera added an English channel in November 2006. The BBC launched an Arabic service last year.
"Many people in France were surprised," Modot says. "If you want to promote French points of view on world news, you have to do it, one way or another, in different languages like English, Arabic or Spanish. Otherwise, only French-speaking people will understand."
"It takes time for a channel to gain carriage and find its place in the global news market," says Francois Godard at Enders Analysis.
France24 at least registers on radars. In an April-July survey of what European opinion leaders watch, France24 tied fourth with Bloomberg (both 9%), behind EuroNews (19%), BBC World (27%) and CNN (31%). In general auds, among international news channels, France24 overtakes Bloomberg to rank third in Europe, says France24 spokeswoman Nathalie Lenfant.
Per Nielsen Net Rating, a third of France24's 3.8 million website visitors in December came from the U.S. The numbers suggest that France24's penetration is largely due to its English- and Arabic-language services.
Sarkozy's France24 decision may not be final. Journalists have yet to be given their marching orders.
In the meantime even some ministers question his views.
An English-language France24 is "not completely pointless," foreign minister Bernard Kouchner says. "A 'French touch' still has to be worked out. But the period of dialogue has hardly begun."
"The future of the language services at France24 is still under discussion," Lenfant concurs.
"The French public sector is inherently conservative. It's easy to create something new. It's very difficult to kill something that exists. I'd expect a lot of discussions and negotiations before the final implementation of any decision," Godard concludes.
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