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View Full Version : France Plans News Channel to Rival BBC, CNN in 2004


sbp
10-29-03, 04:17 AM
http://www.hipakistan.com/en/detail.php?newsId=en40377

A French 24-hour international news channel designed to rival the BBC and CNN should be on the air by late next year after state approval of a public-private consortium to run the broadcaster, an official tasked with drawing up the project said on Tuesday.

The French foreign ministry, currently headed by Dominique de Villepin, would likely be in charge of the channel, Brochand said, though he added that the government would formally decide that aspect later.

Even though Brochand said it is absolutely essential that this channel be independent, he also stressed that its vocation was to be the voice of France.

The project squares with ambitions held by President Jacques Chirac and other officials for France to raise its profile in the influential arena of international television, which has hitherto been dominated by the United States’ CNN and Britain’s BBC.

Their longstanding desire to get such a channel off the ground picked up momentum after the diplomatic confrontation over Iraq, which pitted Paris against Washington and London.

"This channel will encourage the expression of a French vision which is more necessary than ever in the world today," Raffarin said in a statement the day before. :screwy:

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French News Network - unbiased, uncensored and unbathed
"Cameras dropped to the ground recording our fleeing heels since 2004." :rofl

sytaylor
10-29-03, 06:03 AM
...but if its in french, surley only the french are going to use it.. now a spanish news channel..

vampireuk
10-29-03, 06:06 AM
Funnily enough though you can view the BBC site in French:D

It's just those frenchies acting like fools again, and the yanks can back off and let us Brits bash them, we have several hundred years of a headstart:p :D

DaveW
10-29-03, 07:52 AM
Originally posted by sytaylor
...but if its in french, surley only the french are going to use it.. now a spanish news channel..

Yeah, this is like the Welsh making a TV channel to compete with BBC or CNN :) It would take 2 hours and 20 gallons of phlem just to say the headlines.

sytaylor
10-29-03, 08:02 AM
Originally posted by DaveW
Yeah, this is like the Welsh making a TV channel to compete with BBC or CNN :) It would take 2 hours and 20 gallons of phlem just to say the headlines.

reminds me of the red dwarf quote..

origionally stated by rimmer
Open all known frequencies and communicate in all known languages.. oh and welsh

1stFlight
10-29-03, 08:06 AM
Competition = Good

mrsabidji
10-29-03, 06:24 PM
Yeah, but if the channel's main language is actually gonna be French, then competition=0. English language has this slight advantage that it's spoken all over the world.

mrsabidji

1stFlight
10-29-03, 06:35 PM
Originally posted by mrsabidji
Yeah, but if the channel's main language is actually gonna be French, then competition=0. English language has this slight advantage that it's spoken all over the world.

mrsabidji

Funny thing, when I was in grade school and most of HS we were made to take French as it was an "International Language". It was also the first thing that dumped out after I graduated. Most of my Spanish stayed though... go figure.

mrsabidji
10-29-03, 06:42 PM
Oh, several countries have French as their 'official' language and I guess there are people who can talk French in almost every country in the world, but it just can't compete with English (or spanish for that matter) as regards the channel's theoretical audience, in my opinion.

mrsabidji

Ninja Prime
10-29-03, 11:55 PM
Guess france has yet to figure out that no one cares what they think, least of all countries with TV's.

It's just those frenchies acting like fools again, and the yanks can back off and let us Brits bash them, we have several hundred years of a headstart

Have at it, I won't stop you. :D

Ninja Prime
10-29-03, 11:58 PM
Originally posted by 1stFlight
Competition = Good

LOL! You really think a french-run news network is gonna compete with BBC or CNN or Fox News or MSNBC? Hell, MSNBC alone probably has more money to throw away than all of france's economy does.

vampireuk
10-30-03, 02:46 AM
And ze news in today *snort* ze english pig dogs win another rugbee gam

potnoodlegirl
10-30-03, 04:19 AM
Well... having just started my extremely scarily difficult degree (French and Spanish combined) I have to say that Spanish is a hell of a lot easier, more useful and less stupid in terms of grammar (subjunctive aside) I mean French has a special tense to talk about historical events in literature! Why?! However all the Spanish lecturers are evil, while the French ones tend not be slave drivers.

And I'm forced to watch French TV for revision purposes :( 2 years til I go live there for 6 months. Alone.

mrsabidji
10-30-03, 04:55 AM
Originally posted by vampireuk
And ze news in today *snort* ze english pig dogs win another rugbee gam

:D On the other hand, France has won against Scotland last week (or was it Monday ?).

potnoodlegirl : oui, les regles de la grammaire francaise sont une veritable horreur ;).

mrsabidji