Reporters Without Borders
He embodied the opposition to the Beijing Olympics. The milk scandal justifies his reservations. Now the charismatic head of Reporters Without Borders is stepping down—and he will be sorely missed. Op-ed by Jürg Altwegg, Geneva correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and author.
Twenty-three years is enough, and Robert Ménard himself has just turned 55. He co-founded Reporters sans frontières in 1985. Following the example of Médecins Sans Frontières, which had emerged from the anti-ideological enlightenment against left-wing and right-wing totalitarianism. The purified left and revolution replaced the hope of ideologies to improve the world with a concrete humanitarian commitment to the victims. Médecins Sans Frontières achieved a great deal and accomplished a great deal. Bernard Kouchner, who was one of its founders, is now Foreign Minister.
Reporters Without Borders remained in their shadow for a long time. They stood up for persecuted journalists. In the beginning, there were four of them and they operated in the provinces, in Montpellier. Of the quartet of founders, only Robert Ménard remains. The more Ménard ran his organization as a one-man show, the better known Reporters Without Borders became. The breakthrough came when French journalists were kidnapped in Iraq. The commitment to the Libération star reporter Florence Aubenas was Ménard's masterpiece.
Robert Ménard also practically single-handedly embodied the fight against the suppression of freedom of expression in China. Before and during the Olympic Games, he was constantly in the public spotlight. He disrupted the triumphal procession of the Olympic flame and was arrested in Greece. He was often criticized for this. The milk scandal shows that media freedom in China is unfortunately as bad as Ménard said. It had already broken out before the Games and was known to the authorities. They managed to cover it up with their censorship and the propaganda show. Has this policy caused a greater number of deaths? The Chinese dissidents were shocked to learn of Menard's resignation.
He wants to start "something new". Like Bernard Kouchner, he is flirting with politics. And founding a newspaper. Or working in an editorial office. He said all this in the countless interviews that were conducted on his departure. He has already founded his own publishing house. And his book will be published this month: "Freiheiten und andere Chinoiserien" is the title. It is also the answer to the accusation that Reporters Without Borders has never really dared to criticize the French media and politics - even if it is out of consideration for the financial backers and sponsors, which include the major publishing houses: "My organization is primarily concerned with the countries where press freedom is at its worst. I comment on the French media in my book. Of course I see the role that Sarkozy plays. I have good relations with him. I have praised him when it seemed right to do so. Today I don't think his actions can be considered good. He has done damage in the field of human rights. Sarkozy does not keep his promises."
Reporters Without Borders has never been as well off as it is now. Its finances are in order and the organization is now quoted much more often than Médecins Sans Frontières. Even if hardly anyone knows that, in addition to Robert Ménard, it has forty permanent employees, fifteen of whom work abroad. Every year, Reporters Without Borders produces a report on the state of press freedom in the world. The new boss has been appointed. His name is Jean-François Julliard and he is 35 years old, but no newspaper is interested in him yet. Reporters Without Borders will function "more collectively" under Julliard, promises Ménard on behalf of his successor. He himself wants to remain a "grassroots member". We will be hearing a lot more from him in this and other contexts. But Robert Ménard doesn't want to be media minister after all.
Reporters Without Borders remained in their shadow for a long time. They stood up for persecuted journalists. In the beginning, there were four of them and they operated in the provinces, in Montpellier. Of the quartet of founders, only Robert Ménard remains. The more Ménard ran his organization as a one-man show, the better known Reporters Without Borders became. The breakthrough came when French journalists were kidnapped in Iraq. The commitment to the Libération star reporter Florence Aubenas was Ménard's masterpiece.
Robert Ménard also practically single-handedly embodied the fight against the suppression of freedom of expression in China. Before and during the Olympic Games, he was constantly in the public spotlight. He disrupted the triumphal procession of the Olympic flame and was arrested in Greece. He was often criticized for this. The milk scandal shows that media freedom in China is unfortunately as bad as Ménard said. It had already broken out before the Games and was known to the authorities. They managed to cover it up with their censorship and the propaganda show. Has this policy caused a greater number of deaths? The Chinese dissidents were shocked to learn of Menard's resignation.
He wants to start "something new". Like Bernard Kouchner, he is flirting with politics. And founding a newspaper. Or working in an editorial office. He said all this in the countless interviews that were conducted on his departure. He has already founded his own publishing house. And his book will be published this month: "Freiheiten und andere Chinoiserien" is the title. It is also the answer to the accusation that Reporters Without Borders has never really dared to criticize the French media and politics - even if it is out of consideration for the financial backers and sponsors, which include the major publishing houses: "My organization is primarily concerned with the countries where press freedom is at its worst. I comment on the French media in my book. Of course I see the role that Sarkozy plays. I have good relations with him. I have praised him when it seemed right to do so. Today I don't think his actions can be considered good. He has done damage in the field of human rights. Sarkozy does not keep his promises."
Reporters Without Borders has never been as well off as it is now. Its finances are in order and the organization is now quoted much more often than Médecins Sans Frontières. Even if hardly anyone knows that, in addition to Robert Ménard, it has forty permanent employees, fifteen of whom work abroad. Every year, Reporters Without Borders produces a report on the state of press freedom in the world. The new boss has been appointed. His name is Jean-François Julliard and he is 35 years old, but no newspaper is interested in him yet. Reporters Without Borders will function "more collectively" under Julliard, promises Ménard on behalf of his successor. He himself wants to remain a "grassroots member". We will be hearing a lot more from him in this and other contexts. But Robert Ménard doesn't want to be media minister after all.
