French politicians ape Trump’s ‘fake news’ jibes on media
Attacks against journalists are nothing new, you used to get them in the 1930s. But the situation is more aggressive now.
PARIS: Candidates in France’s presidential election from far-right leader Marine Le Pen to embattled conservative Francois Fillon are attacking media coverage in a strategy that resembles Donald Trump’s assault in the United States.
Le Pen has sharpened her attacks on the media in recent weeks, apparently believing it plays well with supporters of her attempt to portray herself as an anti- establishment outsider – a strategy that has helped propel her into the lead in the polls.
At a rally in the western city of Nantes on Sunday, Le Pen accused the media of ‘campaigning hysterically’ for Emmanuel Macron, her business-friendly centrist rival for the presidency, as polls showed him enjoying an increase in support.
Le Pen aimed particular vitriol at Pierre Berge, the former partner of late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and one of the owners of centre-left newspaper Le Monde newspaper.
At the other end of the political spectrum, the Communist-backed Melenchon has set up his own YouTube channel to bypass the ‘traditional media’.
Melenchon accused France Inter radio of being “disingenuous” and accused Agence France- Presse (AFP) of having published “two false stories” about his position on Syria and the involvement of Russia in the conflict.
Media historian Patrick Eveno said the phenomenon was not new – but its tone was harsher than before.
“Attacks against journalists are nothing new, you used to get them in the 1930s,” he said.
Former French presidents Francois Mitterrand, Charles Pompidou and Charles De Gaulle were also not above putting the boot into the media, he recalled.
“But the situation is more aggressive now,” Eveno said.
“The public has a worse and worse view of politicians, and of journalists too, and so each side blames the other.”
In early February, Fillon – the one-time frontrunner in the contest – angrily accused the media of trying to “lynch” him over a scandal surrounding fake jobs he is said to have given to his wife and children.
Dominique Wolton, a specialist in political communication, said he detected the same tactics apparently being used by Trump and his White House team of “trying to get the public on your side against the media”.
Trump routinely dismisses stories as ‘ fake news’ and delights in describing the New York Times as ‘ failing’.
Last week, White House spokesman Sean Spicer barred journalists from many mainstream media outlets from attending a briefing, choosing to invite pro-Trump correspondents instead.
The ‘fake news’ label was picked up in recent weeks by Florian Philippot, the number two of Le Pen’s National Front ( FN) party, when describing a graphic done by AFP on the presidential candidates’ policies.
“The way that Trump defies the justice system and insults the media, with his descriptions of ‘ fake news’, is somehow being emulated by Fillon and Marine Le Pen,” veteran political observer and academic Herve Le Bras noted.
Michele Leridon, AFP’s director of news, said: “Since Trump’s election, the criticism, even harassment, of the media has become a strategy for some politicians.
“They use the term ‘ fake news’ for news items that are correct, but which they don’t like. Our best response is to be as rigorous as possible.”
Le Monde chief Jerome Fenoglio said: “If you want to give the impression that you are ‘antisystem’, the simplest way is to attack the media.”
He believes that politicians’ growing use of blogs and Twitter has caused “a climate of tension”.
Perhaps, though, French voters are not fooled. — AFP
Patrick Eveno, media historian