French Left Accuses Sarkozy of Intimidating Media

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s opposition Socialists have accused the ruling UMP party of trying to intimidate the media in the latest of a series of debates on press freedom since President Nicolas Sarkozy took office a year ago.

Sarkozy last week accused five media, including the French news agency AFP, of showing bias against him by giving insufficient prominence to a court ruling that went against his former rival for the presidency, Socialist Segolene Royal.

Since the original comments by Sarkozy, other members of his party have criticised AFP and the row has intensified.

“This is a new smokescreen aimed at obscuring the government’s errors and Sarkozy’s record low popularity,” said Socialist spokesman Faouzi Lamdaoui in a statement on Sunday.

“What the right is trying to do, through AFP, is to intimidate all journalists,” the statement said.

Sarkozy has close personal friendships with the bosses of several major French media companies and some critics have long accused him of seeking to influence coverage, which he denies.

His accusations against the press came at a time when his popularity ratings have plunged to record lows, hit by economic troubles and a perceived excessive focus on his personal life. The press has widely reported and commented on the poll slump.

The media branches of two major unions, CFDT and CFTC, issued a statement saying they were worried Sarkozy was trying to use journalists as scapegoats for his low popularity.

But UMP spokesman Frederic Lefebvre insisted all the ruling party was asking for was a “neutral” press.

Lefebvre accused AFP of “censorship” because it did not report on one of several press statements by the ruling party on the issue of the Royal court ruling, which concerns a decade-old dispute with two associates over unpaid wages.

AFP rejected the accusation, saying it was free to decide what was newsworthy or not. The two unions also defended the agency, saying it had repeatedly covered the court ruling and was not required to cover every single UMP statement.

In an internal memo to AFP staff leaked to the newspaper Liberation, the agency’s CEO Pierre Louette spoke of “unjust attacks” and said AFP was neutral, as demonstrated by the fact it had been criticised from both the right and the left.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Nicholas Sarkosy has followed in the footsteps of Dubya, Blair, Berlusconi in getting the major media into his inner circle, and got VERY favorable coverage prior to the election. He is getting his just desserts as the French aren’t as easily duped as the U.S. citizens, Britishers or Italians.