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| Europe | |
| France protests to US over Iraq corruption charges | |
| 2004-10-09 | |
| France on Thursday complained to the United States over accusations that French nationals and businesses took bribes from Iraq made in a report by the chief US weapons inspector. The French embassy approached the White House and the US State Department to express anger at the way the allegations were made public. The decorations at the press conference weren't tastful? "The ambassador told the White House and the State Department of our displeasure concerning the methods used," an embassy official told AFP. The official said France was particularly unhappy about "the fact that the names of individuals and companies were made public without any apparent attempt to verify the allegations, and without giving them an opportunity to explain themselves."
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| Posted by:Super Hose |
| #11 We need to "correct" the MSM That reminds me of Gorbachev trying to "reform" Soviet communism. The rot runs too deep for it to be excised. The problem goes beyond idiots like Pinch Sulzberger or Dan Blather. It's partly a problem with the old media's news format, which limits and constrains the number of news sources and story angles. Blogs can beat the MSM hands down IF they can find a way to translate reputational currency into monetary currency. For ex, I'd trust Wretchard's (www.belmontclub.blogspot.com) angle before I'd trust anyt. I read under Judith Miller's byline. But Wretchard writes too infrequently. So we need a platform or a tool that can aggregate, and sift through, a thousand Wretchard equivalents and put them into a user-friendly, ebay/ticker/Bloomberg Financial prices format. This will put a spike in the MSM. And it will happen, soonah dan you tink. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-09 4:54:12 PM |
| #10 You've got it wrong, Lex. We need to "correct" the MSM, just as we need to correct the French. I wrote about this on my blog a couple of days ago, (http://oldpatriot.blogspot.com/2004/10/journalisms-fear-of-new-media.html) in response to an article by Jay Rosen. Once we get the MSM to behaving, we can then take aim at the French (and a few hundred others) that have this tendency to believe they're the center of the Universe, and everything revolves around them. Focusing on them in the right way can make that somewhat true - they will become the center of the funnel spout, and all the s$$$ in the world will descend upon them in ample quantity. Maybe, just maybe, if they have to eat enough of that, they'll learn that other people have a very low opinion of them, and start to make some internal changes. After all, that's what really needs to happen to the MSM, so why not the French, the UN, the Russians, the... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-10-09 4:33:01 PM |
| #9 Forget it, the MSM's already adopting the French Ambassador's spin: "Americans got vouchers, too!" NPR gave this wretched creature about 20 seconds on their story Thrusday eve (with no counter-argument or contextual observation following). And this is the angle of Judith Miller's story in the NY Times today! Could have been scripted by the French Embassy. I've given up on the MSM. Bring 'em down. Bloggers need to do to the NYT, C-BS etc what Howard Stern is doing to radio: use new media to outflank and outscore. SMASH THE MSM! And let a thousand blogs contend. |
| Posted by: lex 2004-10-09 3:59:25 PM |
| #8 Nice nuance there Tom. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-10-09 3:09:53 PM |
| #7 Merde in France? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-10-09 2:04:57 PM |
| #6 JFM---any French bloggers interested in putting this information on their sites? Maybe if enough of them do it, some French MSM will have to eventually pick it up. I just do not know the dynamics of the French media. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-10-09 1:51:13 PM |
| #5 I have toured the MSM French sites and there is NOTHING about this. It would be time Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America started targetting France. |
| Posted by: JFM 2004-10-09 11:34:39 AM |
| #4 No manners, this Bush. These are not subjects for polite, public, multi-lateral conversation. Bush has flunked yet another "global test". |
| Posted by: Tom 2004-10-09 10:47:33 AM |
| #3 Next name their their numbered Swiss bank accounts and their mistresses' government paid love nest addresses. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-10-09 10:46:10 AM |
| #2 Damn zAmericans. Now zcat iz out of zbag. |
| Posted by: Poison Reverse 2004-10-09 10:33:22 AM |
| #1 The official said France was particularly unhappy about "the fact that the names of individuals and companies were made public without any apparent attempt to verify the allegations, and without giving them an opportunity to explain themselves." Now, they can explain. We're listening... |
| Posted by: badanov 2004-10-09 10:27:58 AM |