The News Through French Eyes: Advanced

The news through French eyes
Level 1 Advanced
1
Key words
Fill the gaps using these key words from the text. Note that you may need to change the form of the word
(to a past participle, for example).
wrangling
unveil
perennial
dwarf (vb)
dry run
unprecedented
plummet
ethos
dilute
glitzy
1. If something ____________, it falls very quickly and suddenly from a high position.
2. If something is described as ____________, it has never happened or been experienced before.
3. If something is described as ____________, it has always existed and never seems to change.
4. A ____________ is something you do as a practice for an important event.
5. ____________ is a series of arguments over a long period of time.
6. If you ____________ something, you make it less strong or effective.
7. A ____________ building is bright, exciting and attractive (on the surface).
8. The ____________ of an organization or a group of people is the set of attitudes and beliefs that are
typical of them.
9. When something is ____________ by something else, it is much smaller in comparison to it.
10.Whenaplanis____________,itisannouncedforthersttime.
What do you know?
Decide whether these statements are True or False and then check your answers in the text.
1. France 24 is a new international TV station that will broadcast only in French.
2. President Chirac walked out of an EU meeting when a French employers group leader spoke in English.
3. The idea to launch a French 24-hour news channel came from Mr Chirac.
4. Al-Jazeeras English service is watched by about 90 million households.
5. More than 4,000 people work for CNN.
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NEWS LESSONS / The news through French eyes / Advanced
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007
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6. France 24 will have a bigger budget than CNN.

Level 1 Advanced
Inaslickglasstelevisionstudioinanofceblock
on the southern outskirts of Paris, a new front
in the war on Anglo-Saxon cultural imperialism
will open up tonight. President Jacques Chiracs
decade-old dream of a CNN la Franaise to
rival BBC World and US 24-hours news channels
isnallytolaunchafteryearsofwranglingandin
ghting,promisingarevolutioninworldnews.
France 24 seeks to report international news
through French eyes. Not only will it offer a
French perspective on world events from the
Middle East to Madagascar, it also aims to
reectacertainFrenchartdevivre,orway
of life. It will explain the news with a perennial
favourite of French TV: the argumentative debate
show where philosophers in corduroy discuss
current affairs. Dry runs have included topics
from Rwanda to the plummeting fortunes of the
French rugby team or the changing tastes for
Beaujolais nouveau.
At least 20% of the programming will focus on
culture and lifestyle, embracing everything from
world museums to cuisine, fashion and French
chocolate. It will broadcast simultaneously
on two channels, in English and French. But
broadcasting in English which when used by
the French leader of the European employers
group Unice in March this year prompted Mr
Chirac to storm out of an EU meeting will not
dilute the French ethos. Station executives hope
the English debate shows will be even more
heated than the French. Broadcasts in Arabic
and Spanish will follow at later dates.
The idea of a French 24-hour news channel
wasrstdreamedupwhenMrChiracwasprime
minister in the late 1980s and became one of
his election pledges for the presidency in 2002.
The following year, when Mr Chirac tried to slow
the US drive to war in Iraq and some media
But although the ageing president will launch

France 24 at a glittering gala in Pariss Tuileries
Gardens, the stations chief executive, Alain de
Pouzilhac, is determined not to let it become
Chirac TV. We have public money but we are
an independent channel, he told the Guardian.
Nor will it be a vehicle for the centre-right
presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy, who has
been accused of being too close to TV stations.
I know Nicolas very well. I dont believe we will
have a problem with that. He hasnt called me,
Mr Pouzilhac added.
The channel is aiming at a similar number of
viewers to al-Jazeeras English service, about
75 million households in more than 90 countries,
describing itself as a third way between the
Qatar-based station and CNN.
But its birth has not been smooth. It is an
unprecedented partnership between France
Tlvisions, the countrys public broadcaster,
and TF1, one of Europes largest private TV
channels, two groups which are normally rivals.
There have been numerous union protests
and management disagreements even the
channels name, pronounced France vingtquatre, was hotly contested. Some French
politicians have expressed fears that the
station couldnt generate the funds to compete
internationally. Franois Rochebloine, of the
centrist UDF, called it an uncertain bet, warning
that the taxpayer could have to pay for it twice,
once in the licence fee and again in a satellite or
cable subscription.
France 24s images will largely come from its
parent TV stations as well as other partners such
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byAngeliqueChrisasinParis
6 December, 2006
in the US and Britain mocked his efforts, the

need for a news channel with a French voice
gained currency. Mr Chirac now wants to launch
it as part of the presidents legacy of projects
that continue Frances struggle against the
global dominance of the US. Earlier this year
he unveiled plans for a Franco-German search
engine to compete with Google and Yahoo,
called Quaero, Latin for I search. It was quickly
dubbed Ask Chirac.
The news through French eyes:

Chirac TV takes on Anglo-Saxon
imperialism

Level 1 Advanced
as the agency Agence France Presse and Radio
France International, prompting allegations that it
will just be a round-up of other channels content.
With a team of 170 journalists of an average
ageof30andpublicfundingof86m(58m)
fortherstyear,France24isdwarfedbyits
competitors.CNNhasabudgetof1.2bnanda
staff of 4,000.
But at its headquarters, where a banner outside
proclaims: Everything you are not supposed to
know,journalistssaythestationwillinuence
world politics. Mark Owen, formerly of Granada
TV, who will present the English morning news
bulletins and debate show, said: Take the
conictinLebanonthissummer.IfJacques
Chiracscallforaceaserewhichdidnt
even make BBC or CNN had been reported
earlier, it could have brought about an earlier
resolutionoftheconict.IfChiracscallhadbeen
reported more widely it maybe could have saved
thousands of lives. That was a story calling out
for a French angle, given the historic links to
Lebanon.
The France 24 website will launch tonight and
the station, available on cable or satellite, goes
live tomorrow. There will be a 10-minute news
bulletin each half hour and in between a series
of magazines with topics including humanitarian
affairs, lifestyle, culture, and a monthly show
on economic intelligence, explained as spying
wars between hypercompetitive companies. The
Week in France will tackle politics and society,
and other weekly specials will come from Asia,
the Americas, Africa and the Middle East.
Outside the glitzy building, the critical reaction
has been favourable. Guillaume Parmentier,
director of the French Centre on the United
States, said: Its not an anti-American operation.
Its more than that. France didnt have an
international news channel to compete with many
countries that have. What is remarkable is that is
has taken such a long time to come about.
Guardian News & Media 2006
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First published in the Guardian, 6/12/06

Level 1 Advanced
3 Comprehension check
Choose the best answer according to the information in the text.
1. What is the main purpose of France 24?
a. To attract more viewers than CNN.
b. To report international news from a French perspective.
c. To present an anti-American world view.
2. Why did the need for a news channel with a French voice increase in 2003?
a. Because President Chirac wanted it to be part of his legacy.
b. Because France was struggling against the global dominance of the US.
c. Because Chiracs voice of opposition to the war in Iraq was not being heard.
3. Why has France 24 been labelled an uncertain bet?
a. Because French taxpayers may have to pay for it twice.
b. Because there have been union protests and management disagreements.
c. Because people cannot agree on the channels name.
4. What is the most remarkable thing about France 24?
a. That it is aiming at a similar number of viewers as Al-Jazeera.
b. That it has taken so long to become a reality.
c. That it will broadcast in both French and English simultaneously.
4 Find the word

Lookinparagraphs1to4ofthetextandndthesewordsorexpressions.
1. An adjective meaning impressive and seeming to need very little effort.
2. A noun meaning a thick cotton material with a ridged surface.
3. A verb meaning to include and accept something.
4. An adverb meaning at the same time.
5. A verb meaning to make something look stupid by laughing at it.
6. An expression meaning to win the approval of many people.
7. A noun meaning something you have achieved that continues to exist after you have stopped working or after
you die.
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8. A verb meaning to give someone or something a particular name.

Level 1 Advanced
5 Collocations
Match the verbs with the nouns or noun phrases.
1. to launch
a. fears
2. to dream up
b. a television programme
3. to unveil
c. a particular issue or subject
4. to express
d. an idea
5. to generate
e. funds or income
6.topresent
f.aceasere
7. to call for
g. a new business, service or product
8. to focus on
h. a plan
6 Word building
These words from the text all have a second, different meaning to the one used in the text. Fill the gaps in
the sentences using these words.
launch
channel
slick
dub
mock
embrace
currency
heated
1. A ____________ test or exam is one you do as practice for a real one.

2. The ____________ of Russia is the rouble.
3. A ____________ is a large open boat with an engine.
4. A ____________ swimming pool is a must in cold weather.
5.Anoil____________isapoolofoiloatingonthesea.
6.Ifyou____________alm,youreplacethesoundtrackwithadifferentlanguage.
7. A ____________ is a narrow area of water joining two seas.
8. If you ____________ someone, you put your arms round them to show love or friendship.
7 Discussion
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Is the English language too dominant in the world today? Can French ever be the lingua franca of the world?

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The news through French eyes

What do you know?

NEWS LESSONS / The news through French eyes / Advanced

Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2007

6. France 24 will have a bigger budget than CNN.