As usual, Walter, you make much sense BUT i must cavil with your portrayal of The NYT....they really have the best journos in the world on this story, labouring under intolerable conditions. My dear friends Maggie and Peter (Baker) are such pros ... Maggie Haberman gets her dna from her sainted father Clyde (google him!) ... trust me, they have NO agenda but the truth ... and the Sulzbergers leave them the hell alone, quite rightly !! I value your views immensely and your membership in the inner circles of the Unleashed family !!
“NJJ Presse, French businessman Xavier Niel's personal holding company, announced that it had taken over Daniel Kretinsky's shares in Le Monde Group, with the unanimous agreement of the Pôle d'indépendance (Independence Pole).”
I just looked up NJJ Presse (count me naïve, I didn't know of it). It appears to be a foundation set up by a former owner of Le Monde, dedicated to 'complete independence of the free press'. The foundation is reported (link follows) to have been aimed at blocking ownership of Le Monde by a more politically aligned competitor. Quote from Les Echos. Can you give background on political vested interest, at Les Echos? At any rate, here's their quote;
" Il n'y a pas beaucoup de grands modèles de médias comme celui-ci. Le 'Guardian', par exemple, en est un. L'idée est d'être à l'abri des fluctuations du marché. Nous ne versons pas de dividendes, détaille Louis Dreyfus. Le corollaire est qu'il faut être capable de s'autofinancer. Ce type de fonds, entre association et fondation, a déjà été adopté par le site Mediapart en 2019 et le quotidien « Libération » en 2020, rendant le capital de ces entreprises incessible, rappelle l'AFP."
If you can update on it that or show that Les Echos may be biased, that will be most appreciated:
BUT i am told he is a very hands-off patron. Except for one area: style & fashion. I happen to know their leading style writer who arrived a couple of years ago from Valeurs Actuelles which IS faaaar-right and she just could not abide it any more. I think Arnault played a role in her hiring but she insists even in this area she has never heard from him !!! And she is very happy in her new ‘liberal’ paper!!!! (btw she is also a major expert/writer on Brazil where she detests Bolsonaro & admires Lulu!!)
I appreciate your reply. My comments were not about individual writers or reporters. In theory, there's an independent newsroom. In NYT, in my opinion, there's a collection of superb professionals and then, some mediocre, and then, invited columns that defy the values of the newsroom. As you know, the NYT is a media content corporation first and foremost. The mediated world is fracturing under the weight of both 'social-media', media-feeds, and the death of traditional dailies + the weight of enormously wealthy billionaires.
By contrast, I'd say European national media, e.g. Paris Le Monde, are now the world standard for consistent reporting.
Hi David, your coverage is splendid as usual. Can't resist making a comment and suggestion, following Nov 5.
Did you see the front-page coverage in the Good Gray New York Times on Nov 6? It was astonishing, and seems to reflect a whitewash of the Trump victory, sort a re-do of America's public rooms, perhaps to the outside world. I can't recall ever seeing anything as crass, fawning, and duplicitous in the so-called National Paper of Record. Perhaps, to reassure Wall Street and foreign investment, or just the Ownership of the Times. (Or, fear of Donald's promised Retribution.) At any rate, will there be any coverage of that page in the wider world? By the way, Singapore, for all its wealth and prosperity (much praise to it for that) is one of the most conservative polities in Asia, and virtually a 1-party state. No surprise that Donald Trump will not annoy them.
As usual, Walter, you make much sense BUT i must cavil with your portrayal of The NYT....they really have the best journos in the world on this story, labouring under intolerable conditions. My dear friends Maggie and Peter (Baker) are such pros ... Maggie Haberman gets her dna from her sainted father Clyde (google him!) ... trust me, they have NO agenda but the truth ... and the Sulzbergers leave them the hell alone, quite rightly !! I value your views immensely and your membership in the inner circles of the Unleashed family !!
Hmmm, truly …. Up to a point ;-)
“NJJ Presse, French businessman Xavier Niel's personal holding company, announced that it had taken over Daniel Kretinsky's shares in Le Monde Group, with the unanimous agreement of the Pôle d'indépendance (Independence Pole).”
;-)))
Thanks again for the added information.
I just looked up NJJ Presse (count me naïve, I didn't know of it). It appears to be a foundation set up by a former owner of Le Monde, dedicated to 'complete independence of the free press'. The foundation is reported (link follows) to have been aimed at blocking ownership of Le Monde by a more politically aligned competitor. Quote from Les Echos. Can you give background on political vested interest, at Les Echos? At any rate, here's their quote;
" Il n'y a pas beaucoup de grands modèles de médias comme celui-ci. Le 'Guardian', par exemple, en est un. L'idée est d'être à l'abri des fluctuations du marché. Nous ne versons pas de dividendes, détaille Louis Dreyfus. Le corollaire est qu'il faut être capable de s'autofinancer. Ce type de fonds, entre association et fondation, a déjà été adopté par le site Mediapart en 2019 et le quotidien « Libération » en 2020, rendant le capital de ces entreprises incessible, rappelle l'AFP."
If you can update on it that or show that Les Echos may be biased, that will be most appreciated:
https://www.lesechos.fr/tech-medias/medias/le-monde-appartient-desormais-a-un-fonds-de-dotation-2090655#:~:text=NJJ%20Presse%20(appartenant%20%C3%A0%20Xavier,temps%2C%20qui%20est%20devenue%20effective.
OK …. i’m up & replying !! Les Echos (i’d forgotten sorry!) is owned by LVMH, hence Bernard Arnault … eg: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_%C3%89chos
BUT i am told he is a very hands-off patron. Except for one area: style & fashion. I happen to know their leading style writer who arrived a couple of years ago from Valeurs Actuelles which IS faaaar-right and she just could not abide it any more. I think Arnault played a role in her hiring but she insists even in this area she has never heard from him !!! And she is very happy in her new ‘liberal’ paper!!!! (btw she is also a major expert/writer on Brazil where she detests Bolsonaro & admires Lulu!!)
Thanks very much for this, very copious.
I shall trust Le Monde for the nonce. Reminds me of what my mentors in France used to say: "Ȏ Le Monde, Huguenots, droiture !"
On the other hand, their literary critics were trash -- many didn't bother reading the books.
getting late-ish here, Walter.....tomorrow!! btw, I know the NY correspondent of Le Echos pretty well ... a journalist utterly beyond reproach!!
I appreciate your reply. My comments were not about individual writers or reporters. In theory, there's an independent newsroom. In NYT, in my opinion, there's a collection of superb professionals and then, some mediocre, and then, invited columns that defy the values of the newsroom. As you know, the NYT is a media content corporation first and foremost. The mediated world is fracturing under the weight of both 'social-media', media-feeds, and the death of traditional dailies + the weight of enormously wealthy billionaires.
By contrast, I'd say European national media, e.g. Paris Le Monde, are now the world standard for consistent reporting.
Hi David, your coverage is splendid as usual. Can't resist making a comment and suggestion, following Nov 5.
Did you see the front-page coverage in the Good Gray New York Times on Nov 6? It was astonishing, and seems to reflect a whitewash of the Trump victory, sort a re-do of America's public rooms, perhaps to the outside world. I can't recall ever seeing anything as crass, fawning, and duplicitous in the so-called National Paper of Record. Perhaps, to reassure Wall Street and foreign investment, or just the Ownership of the Times. (Or, fear of Donald's promised Retribution.) At any rate, will there be any coverage of that page in the wider world? By the way, Singapore, for all its wealth and prosperity (much praise to it for that) is one of the most conservative polities in Asia, and virtually a 1-party state. No surprise that Donald Trump will not annoy them.