The force of the fourth Estate – investigative journalism in my country

by Thomas Seymat, France

For long, investigative journalism was for me some sort of far-away, almost mythical genre, with its heroes, like Bernstein and Woodward, coming from a geographically-defined area: the Anglo-Saxon world. Not that there is no investigative journalists in France, but I can not recall an investigative story that had a true dramatic effect on the political life. But the facts seem to contradict my memories. In a paper entitled “Scandal and the Rise of Investigative Reporting in France“1, Jean K. Chalaby analyses the “late and fragile development“ of investigative journalism in France. He writes, “until the 1980s, there were only two publications in France that launched investigations and tried to unravel some of country’s most unsavoury affairs. These were L’Express and Le Canard Enchaîné“(p.1194). Historically, the relative weakness of investigative journalism is mainly due to the French journalistic culture, traditionally more opinionated, and thus sacrificing long, in-depth researched articles in favour of editor columns. “For most of the 20th century“, Chalaby explains, “the gathering of facts and their exposition have not been the first priority of French newspapers. French dailies contained fewer pages, much less information and did not possess information-gathering services comparable to those of their Anglo-American counterparts.“(p.1201)
Another explanation of the weakness of investigative journalism in France lies in the existing strong links, some may say collusion, between political and economical elite’s on one side and editors-in-chief or journalists on the other, who then tame reporters working for them that might write a story incriminating a friend. Those links, at times formed on the benches of a Parisian „grande école“, prestigious universities, are facts well documented by the few journalists who denounce the influence those relations can have on the freedom and the independence of the press. Anecdotes are proving them right. For instance, Arnaud Lagardère, who once called Nicolas Sarkozy „[his] brother“ on camera, is the CEO of Lagardère Media, a corporation which controls many broadcast, electronic and print media in France. In May 2007, Mr Lagardère is said to have pressured the editorial staff of the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, that he owns, to kill a story which would have upset the newly-elected Nicolas Sarkozy. Indeed, the newspaper was about to publish an article revealing that Sarkozy's then-wife Cecilia did not vote for him, as she abstained for the second round of the presidential election. Shocked, the journalists from Le Journal du Dimanche could do nothing but complain about against an „unacceptable act of censorship“.
In such a difficult working environment, in addition to the economic crisis putting every newsrooms' budget under strain, investigative journalists are going through a rough time in France. But I do believe that there is some hope left for a strong investigative journalism in France. The internet especially appears like a medium which can combine the independence of tone and the accessibility needed for investigative journalism to really perform its most prevalent roles, such as holding officials and institutions accountable or shedding light on under-reported stories.

Thomas Seymat, 24, studied Journalism and Media in Lyon, France and subsequently did the Erasmus Mundus Master of Journalism and Media. He has studied in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and the USA. His work experience so far included writing for print as well as online media. Recently, he worked as an intern for Mediapart.fr, the successfull paid content online platform.