Cherchez la femme (II)

And how is the most beautiful journalist in Paris?". Dominique Strauss-Kahn also tried his clumsy come-on with Valérie Trierweiler. She had been in a relationship with François Hollande for two years when he was the faithful partner at Ségolène Royal's side during the 2007 election campaign. She had met the socialist politician as a cultural journalist at Paris Match, whose editor-in-chief was once dismissed because he put the former Madame Sarkozy on the cover with her new partner. During the election campaign, Trierweiler was sidelined by the magazine - after the left-wing triumph, her contract was extended. However, her office is in the Elysée and the secretary is paid by the state.

Her first article: a review of a biography of the wife of US President Roosevelt. Trierweiler explained on the radio that she would decide on sensitive interview requests to the president and between the different media. And reignited the debate about the role of female journalists alongside politicians. In the love affair between power (male) and the media (female), the republic locates its dream couple: Minister and star journalist, married in second and third marriages. It is an achievement of the caviar left: DSK/Anne Sinclair, together with Bernard Kouchner/Christine Ockrent, were its pioneers. Since then, bourgeois cabinet members have also been TV presenters. The model is also represented in the new cabinet.

In the Elysée, however, female journalists have so far been limited to the rumor that she is an alleged mistress. It has been circulating since Giscard d'Estaing. L'Express founder Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber deliberately sent the most attractive female editors in short skirts to the politicians. Between Cecilia and Carla Bruni, a journalist from Figaro was located at Sarkozy's side. "I thought the most beautiful journalist in Paris was Anne Sinclair," the quick-witted Trierweiler is said to have dismissed DSK at the time. Her Twitter message, in which she supported Ségolène Royal's opponent in the parliamentary elections, sparked the first affair since the change of power. The Prime Minister had to rebuke the wife of his President. "Who's the boss in the Elysée?" was the headline in L'Express.

The rivalry between two women becomes the theme of the summer theater. The book "Les Strauss-Kahn", whose authors - journalists from the world newspaper Le Monde - reveal DSK's advances towards the most beautiful female journalist, is the bestseller of the season. "The great jealous women who make history" are listed by Marianne magazine. "Praying for the president" between two women is what star writer Philippe Sollers wanted in a Sunday newspaper. He has been writing for the Journal du Dimanche for years. We now know more about François Hollande, who wanted to be a "normal" president, from his private biography than we ever had to read about his extravagant predecessor. Only Paris-Match, whose core business is all this, has its hands tied out of consideration for the powerful freelancer. The Journal du Dimanche, which is published by the same publishing house, is also once again practising its loyalty to the government. In 2007, an article about Sarkozy's wife, who did not go to the polls, was removed from the paper. And now Philippe Sollers has been given the boot. PS: Half of the more than thirty ministers in the new cabinet are women. Never before has their share in parliament been as high as since the election in June.