<div>Dear Ronald,</div>
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<div>Thanks for this reply. I never meant the press is "pleased" to be spinned. And I agree with your remarks. </div>
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<div>Still, in the case of the french press, it turns out that the cozyness of the relation between politicians and the press - particularly televisual - is becoming so intense that nobody knows anymore who is spinning who. At least three major (ex)ministers are married or have regular affairs with high-profile (ex)news anchors and the density of lunches, dinners and other interactions among the two groups gave birth to the (in)famous expression : la communauté politico-médiatique.
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<div>If you put in context the ownership of major TV stations and newspapers by groups or individuals that have a clear political orientation, preference or personnal links to major politicians, the work of independent journalists is becoming somewhat more complex. Not to mention the situation in Italy.
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<div>But to come back to the WGIG report, I think we could benefit a lot from your advice on how to present in the best possible way the major lessons that CS wants to put forward after this important experience. Could you help us ?
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<div>As a final note, did you watch the EPIC 2014 film on the future of the press ? It's available at : <a href="http://www.robinsloan.com/epic">www.robinsloan.com/epic</a> and I would be very interested in your analysis of the future it paints.
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<div>Best</div>
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<div>Bertrand</div>
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<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 7/21/05, <b class="gmail_sendername">Ronald Koven</b> <<a href="mailto:rkoven@compuserve.com">rkoven@compuserve.com</a>> wrote:</span></div>
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<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">[Please note that by using 'REPLY', your response goes to the entire list. Kindly use individual addresses for responses intended for specific people. Your cooperation is highly appreciated]
<br>_______________________________________<br><br>Dear Bertrand --<br><br>What makes you think we are pleased to be manipulated by pols ?<br><br>The general disillusion with politics starts with the attitudes of the<br>press, and that stems from the perception that politicians try to
<br>manipulate us journalists. When they actually succeed for a time (as they<br>inevitably must occasionally do since they control so much information),<br>that only increases the resentment once we realize we've been had.
<br>Journalists are only (all too) human.<br><br>When things go wrong for politicians -- toutes tendances confondues, one of<br>their first lines of defense is to blame it on the stupidity, venality, or<br>whatever of the press. Surely, you don't mean to fall into the trap of
<br>accepting that old political trick, do you ?<br><br>Best, Rony Koven<br><br>_______________________________________________<br>Plenary mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Plenary@wsis-cs.org">Plenary@wsis-cs.org</a><br><a href="http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary">
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/plenary</a><br></blockquote></div><br>