Le Monde boss Jérôme Fenoglio tells AAPA how his paper has managed to thrive in the current grim media landscape
Plans for an English edition of Le Monde, combating fake news, and how the leading French daily is - finally - doing rather nicely in a changed and ever-changing media landscape: these and many other topics were covered when Le Monde editor Jérôme Fenoglio hosted the AAPA. The event was held on March 27 at the newspaper's premises in the 13th arrondissement, where the imposing building's grand…
‘Sociologist of emotions’ Eva Illouz on #MeToo and French versus ‘Anglo-Saxon’ sexual mores
The US-educated Franco-Israeli sociologist Eva Illouz spoke to the Anglo-American Press Association for two hours on February 21st at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales in Paris, where she teaches. Illouz is a leading expert in the study of feminism and male-female relationships. She explained how the #MeToo movement sparked by accusations against film producer Harvey Weinstein is…
2018
Dear Members, A short note to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year (and belatedly posting this message on our website a tad later than it was sent out by email). As you will all likely know by now, members elected me president of the association at the annual general meeting in December. Thank you again for your confidence in me, and in the new Secretary General Cathy Nolan as well…
Benjamin Griveaux provides insider’s view of the Macron administration
Brexit, Germany, European parliamentary elections, the economy, Islam in France, and Corsican nationalism were among the many topics government spokesman and cabinet member Benjamin Griveaux discussed with the AAPA at a meeting on February 12. Griveaux was spokesman for Emmanuel Macron’s election campaign and over lunch with 28 members of the Association, he recounted the foundation of Macron’s…
Macron is no revolutionary but has given France a much-need makeover, says telecom tycoon Xavier Niel
President Emmanuel Macron has not revolutionised France but he has given the country a much-needed image makeover, telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel told the AAPA during a meeting on January 24. Niel met with the association at Station F, a huge start-up incubator housed in a former railway depot near the Seine river which Macron inaugurated a month after coming to power last year. Station F's…
CGT union leader Martinez vows to keep up the fight against Macron reforms
Philippe Martinez, the leader of the hardline CGT union, conceded during his January 11 meeting with the AAPA that he had failed to prevent President Macron’s labour law reform. But he vowed to continue fighting tooth and nail to prevent France becoming more like Britain - in his eyes a land of zero-hours contracts, diminishing workers’ rights, and official contempt for the unemployed. Asked if…
Mediapart shows independent news is possible and even profitable, says Edwy Plenel
The investigative online newspaper Mediapart enters its 11th year with a growing paid readership, a healthy balance sheet, and its twin pillars of independence and diversity fully intact, co-founder and publishing editor Edwy Plenel told the AAPA on January 9. When Mediapart was launched 10 years ago on March 16, 2008, virtually no-one - apart from the founders and the 25 staff- believed a paying…
Machines Aren’t Our Friends, Media Moguls Tell AAPA
In this new industrial age, machines are going after white collar jobs...brain power jobs. In the words of Hilary Clinton, "Machines are not our friends." That thought was echoed by Fred Raillard & Farid Mokart at a breakfast gathering for the AAPA in the Paris headquarters of their media company FF Creative Community on December 12. “Regulations are the only thing that will save us,” Fred…
Diplomat Briefs AAPA on Franco-American Relations
One year after the election of Donald Trump to the White House, relations between France and the United States remain “extremely good”, and are underpinned by military cooperation between the two countries, a senior French diplomat told the AAPA on Nov. 17. “The relationship between France and the U.S. has never been so intense in military terms,” the official told the group of nearly 40 AAPA…
Seine Cruise Celebrates AAPA’s 110th Anniversary
To celebrate the 110th year of the AAPA’s founding, 85 members and their guests took to the water for a celebratory evening cruise on the Seine on Sept. 16. Boarding the “Henri IV,” at the picturesque Pont Neuf, we were treated to plentiful food and drink. The champagne was flowing like water thanks to a stash of left-over bubbly from previous summer Galas. Top-class entertainment was supplied…