Another 24-hour news channel aired this week, but this one might just last the course, writes Eva Dadrian In the crowded world of 24-hour television news, France 24 took to the air last week. A day earlier it went on the Internet with three politically-charged interviews with President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French foreign minister. The French marked the launch of their new television channel with their customary panache. Under a crystal domed tent, ministers, government officials, celebrities, industry moguls and even passers-by, toasted Francophone equality through the night. The National Assembly was also part of this fête as the logo and the first news bulletin of the channel were projected on the façade of their building. "This confirms the will of the entire French nation to be associated with a channel that will project France's view to the world" said an elated Jean-Louis Debré, the speaker of the House. Initially reaching an estimated 75 million households in more than 90 countries and aiming to offer a "French perspective on the news", France 24 started broadcasts in English as well as in French. Soon it will start in Arabic and later in Spanish. In its Mission Statement, France 24 declares that it will broadcast seven days a week and 24 hours a day in French and English and will be distributed clearly and free by cable, satellite and ADSL services in France, in Europe, in the Near and Middle East, in Africa and also on the East coast of the United States. As it stands currently, the only US destinations of the news channel are Washington and New York, realised via cable. Its Internet site is already in three languages, namely French, English and Arabic and 12 celebrated journalists have launched their own blogs into the international blogosphere. By entering a battlefield saturated already with well- established international broadcasters, France 24 faces aggressive and fierce competition from rivals like Al-Jazeera which recently started its English language channel, BBC World and CNN, the veteran of them all. Indeed, one might ask whether there is any need to have yet another international news channel. "Mais oui," says Alain de Pouzilhac, president of France 24. He believes the new international channel will cover the world with "French eyes" and give the viewers a perspective "that recognises the diversity of the world." Adding a French voice onto the global media market was the long-standing dream of French President Jacques Chirac. As a staunch protector of the French language, Chirac is said to have started pressing for a French global channel since 2002. In that year, as France was organising international opposition to US plans to invade Iraq, Chirac bemoaned the absence of a television channel that would give the world a French perspective on international issues. The project gained momentum when, in November 2005, the government gave it 86 million euros. It is expecting to make three million euros next year from advertising, mainly from French companies. Every global news cable television has to have a motto -- for BBC World, it's "Putting News First", for Al-Jazeera it's "Opinion -- and Counter Opinion". France 24, which dropped its first choice, "Everything you are not supposed to know", has adopted the more pragmatic "Beyond the News" maxim. The viewpoint of France 24 may counter the prevailing US view of world affairs, particularly for African and especially for Arab audiences, which are unsympathetic to channels like CNN or Fox News. To shape this French-vision formula, head-hunters have been poaching top anchors and newscasters from the rival networks. They have secured a former CNN anchor from London as the host for the English-language debate-show and a native New Yorker, formerly working for Radio France Internationale, as the principal anchor for the English newscasts. Considering that France is a major diplomatic power, it is important for its voice to be heard. Why shouldn't it have a 24-hour news channel that gives French views on international issues "in conformity with French traditions". This is a legitimate desire and France's ambition to recover its former prestige on the world scene may be realised by this new weapon in the global battle of broadcasting.
