No Watergate in Paris
No French president resigns over a scandal involving revelations. Certainly not Sarkozy. But something has changed: In the latest political scandal, an online newspaper has supplanted the traditional press. Op-ed by Jürg Altwegg, Geneva correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
Paris is not Washington, and there is no Watergate on the Seine. Otherwise, both Mitterrand and Sarkozy would have had to resign - as victims of the journalist Edwy Plenel. His latest prank: he started the scandal surrounding Liliane Bettencourt and the minister Eric Woerth. He published the wiretap logs on his internet portal Mediapart, which show that the richest French woman handed over envelopes containing money to the politician. Woerth's wife worked in asset management for Oréal's majority shareholder and her boss received the Foreign Legion from Monsieur le Ministre. In return for the cash, there were tax rebates and leniency in the prosecution of tax evasion. The state is also interested in the events surrounding the Bettencourt family because the elderly lady gave her gigolo more than a billion. The daughter wants to place her under guardianship - the process is underway.
The state affair has been smouldering for weeks. Plenel adds to it almost daily, even on Sundays. On August 15, when the summer doldrums reach their culmination and the news level tends towards zero, he publishes another adventurous story about the minister. He had cheated on a bank loan to finance an election campaign. With grotesque details. On Monday, they were in almost every newspaper.
No vacation for Edwy Plenel. He has a reputation as a fanatic. His journalistic career began at the far-left newspaper Rouge. Like many members of his generation, Edwy Plenel was a Trotskyist - the influence of these far-left networks in the Parisian media is still palpable. Plenel worked at Le Monde for two and a half decades and became number two. With the Greenpeace affair in the 1980s, he put Mitterrand in trouble and forced the defense minister Charles Hernu to resign. Mitterrand had Plenel's phone tapped for fear of private, not political, revelations about his illegitimate daughter.
Edwy Plenel had to resign from Monde due to ideological differences and his justified reservations about the ruinous expansion strategy. With his handsome severance pay, he founded the online newspaper Mediapart in 2008, which was voted the best info portal of 2010. Renowned journalists who lost their jobs due to the press crisis are also on board - experienced editors in early retirement. The financial balance has not yet been found. But Mediapart now has 30,000 paying users - and the trend is rising. The next step is to get into the black.
Following the revelations, the ruling party has sponsored links on Google in order to better sell its own point of view. Denying, lying, denigrating and marking certainty of victory is the slogan. The Internet, and Mediapart in particular, have been slandered across the board as fascist. But this ploy no longer works. The anger of the people that unfolds on the Internet is only growing and can no longer be controlled. In the face of systematic lies, rumors - such as the one about Mitterrand's double life - have all too often proved to be true.
Politicians and the media, whose closeness and collusion undermine the credibility of all, are rightly nervous. The current affair represents a turning point in the history of French journalism. There are several reputable internet portals such as Mediapart, Rue.89 and others. More than in other European countries. Their success also has to do with the failure of the traditional press. They do their research and have no fear of contact. And a minority is prepared to pay for this.
This is what Edwy Plenel was hoping for and betting on when he founded Mediapart. He recently called Sarkozy a "constitutional delinquent". The government describes its most dangerous critic as a "veritable delinquent of journalism". Plenel can only be pleased. After his forced departure from the tabloid, he has returned to his favorite role in the new medium: me against the president.
The state affair has been smouldering for weeks. Plenel adds to it almost daily, even on Sundays. On August 15, when the summer doldrums reach their culmination and the news level tends towards zero, he publishes another adventurous story about the minister. He had cheated on a bank loan to finance an election campaign. With grotesque details. On Monday, they were in almost every newspaper.
No vacation for Edwy Plenel. He has a reputation as a fanatic. His journalistic career began at the far-left newspaper Rouge. Like many members of his generation, Edwy Plenel was a Trotskyist - the influence of these far-left networks in the Parisian media is still palpable. Plenel worked at Le Monde for two and a half decades and became number two. With the Greenpeace affair in the 1980s, he put Mitterrand in trouble and forced the defense minister Charles Hernu to resign. Mitterrand had Plenel's phone tapped for fear of private, not political, revelations about his illegitimate daughter.
Edwy Plenel had to resign from Monde due to ideological differences and his justified reservations about the ruinous expansion strategy. With his handsome severance pay, he founded the online newspaper Mediapart in 2008, which was voted the best info portal of 2010. Renowned journalists who lost their jobs due to the press crisis are also on board - experienced editors in early retirement. The financial balance has not yet been found. But Mediapart now has 30,000 paying users - and the trend is rising. The next step is to get into the black.
Following the revelations, the ruling party has sponsored links on Google in order to better sell its own point of view. Denying, lying, denigrating and marking certainty of victory is the slogan. The Internet, and Mediapart in particular, have been slandered across the board as fascist. But this ploy no longer works. The anger of the people that unfolds on the Internet is only growing and can no longer be controlled. In the face of systematic lies, rumors - such as the one about Mitterrand's double life - have all too often proved to be true.
Politicians and the media, whose closeness and collusion undermine the credibility of all, are rightly nervous. The current affair represents a turning point in the history of French journalism. There are several reputable internet portals such as Mediapart, Rue.89 and others. More than in other European countries. Their success also has to do with the failure of the traditional press. They do their research and have no fear of contact. And a minority is prepared to pay for this.
This is what Edwy Plenel was hoping for and betting on when he founded Mediapart. He recently called Sarkozy a "constitutional delinquent". The government describes its most dangerous critic as a "veritable delinquent of journalism". Plenel can only be pleased. After his forced departure from the tabloid, he has returned to his favorite role in the new medium: me against the president.
