Starting On The Wrong Foot

How France24, France’s new CNN, screwed it up with this blogger’s first impression.

I was looking forward to it: The launch of France24, the international 24-hour news TV station that promises to present a more nuanced view of the world, with a special sensitivity to how people themselves see the news, as opposed to how politicians do.

Since they’re embracing new media, they launched a worldwide publicity blitz by sending exclusive content to bloggers like myself. To juice up their offer, the station sent us “surprise” packages so that we could celebrate together the big launching night.

As I opened my package today, I was disappointed.

The gift was very valuable and I’m very thankful, but it also has something to say about the sender.

The station which promises not to project its own values on peoples has sent me, a practicing Muslim, a Möet&Chandon bottle of champaign (which I had to pay tariff for, but that’s another story).

Suddenly, the assertion on page 1 of their brochure, that “France 24 is characterized by respect for diversity and attention to political and cultural differences and identities” rang hollow in my mind. The question is, does it really make a difference if it starts broadcasting in Arabic soon?

It doesn’t matter whether I personally drink alcohol or not, what matters is that France24 still has a lot of homework to do if it wants to see the world using other peoples’ eyes.