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2 on -- a French view
From: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 16:16:51 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: Jose M Guardia <joseg () guardiasociados com> Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 20:29:48 +0100 To: Richard Jay Solomon <rsolomon () dsl cis upenn edu>, Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Re: FW: [IP] a French view I'd say that Le Monde Diplomatique is probably further left than the typical left-of-center represented by Le Monde (the journal), but of course this is a personal opinion. In any case, Le Monde Diplomatique's circulation is a tiny fraction (then again, it's a monthly) as compared to the daily Le Monde, which has a biggest impact on public opinion as you know from your experience living in France. I wouldn't dare to say that LMDiplomatique is a fringe publication, but it's read mostly among people quite in the far left (anti-globalization activists, etc). But I totally agree with you 1) it's great to have access to views from far away, which is something only the Internet allows. I am myself able to reach, from Barcelona where I live, multiple points of view, and somehow getting wider perspective than the overwhelmingly predominant anti-war (and too often plainly anti-American) position on European mainstream media. But that's another story :-) and 2) I totally agree on the importance of reaching to different viewpoints, even when they are opposed to your own. That's the way you can be sure that your opinion is not simply a lack of contrast with other opinions. As I wrote in a previous message to IP, and excuse me for the self-quote, "I think that it's important to receive all kinds of information, because one can only be sure of his opinions when confronted with opposing views, not when kept drinking his own bathwater, so to speak." All the best, Jose M Guardia ------ End of Forwarded Message ------ Forwarded Message From: Richard Jay Solomon <rsolomon () dsl cis upenn edu> Date: Mon, 10 Mar 2003 15:29:11 -0500 To: Jose M Guardia <joseg () guardiasociados com> Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net> Subject: Re: FW: [IP] a French view After reading the French version of LeMonde online (www.lemonde.fr) and the English version of LeMonde Diplomatique (and I don't read them every day, just once in awhile), you sure could fool me that they weren't the same editorial staff. The viewpoints of the latter are so identical to the former, i thought they were the same, & I knew that the LeMonde newspaper was widely circulated in France. I'm mainly interested in just finding out what other people read and think in order to figure out why they think that way. I approach this as a former propaganda analyst. My main observation is that the job of the propagandist is getting more complicated, and the risk of blow-back is orders of magnitude higher, due to the Internet, DBS, cable, DVDs, low-budget videos, etc., etc. I don't think the mainstream media have a clue, or even gives a damn until it hits their revenue stream. They live in a completely different world, financially and informationally. Very weird times. So far, only the overfed record industry takes the technology seriously. The others seem to think it's a passing fad, or just something to cover in their features sections. But there is so little analysis out there about the news industry itself, we really don't know what we don't know. I used to do this stuff decades ago when it was much easier. I was in Barcelona a month ago -- too bad I didn't know about you, it would have been fun to meet. I relied on the Herald Tribune and the English version of La Pais which appears as a daily supplement to the IHT, but doesn't seem to be online. Whatever the political leanings of La Pais (I don't read Spanish that well), I wasn't too surprised to hear the results of the polls when I got home. That's what I mean about reading what other people see. It's a better advance warning system than listening to your own TV commentators. Richard ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as interesting-people () lists elistx com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
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- 2 on -- a French view Dave Farber (Mar 10)