Closer magazine "outs" Front National's Florian Philippot

So a prominent member of the far-right Front National (FN), Florian Philippot, is apparently  gay.

Florian Philippot (screenshot i>Télé interview November 2014)

It's not exactly a secret, although not a story with which the media the rest of the French media has been prepared to run.

Until, that is, the weekly celebrity news and gossip magazine, Closer, decided "to break the silence" by publishing photographs in its latest edition of Philippot and his partner, on a break in Vienna.

Yes, Closer - that bastion of first-rate journalism whose credo seems to be that "scandal and sauciness" are newsworthy and has made its mark by publishing unauthorised long lens photographs, is proving true to its reputation.

Remember back in 2006 those photos of Ségolène Royal clad only in a bikini on a beach?

Or in 2012  the shots of the Duchess of Cambridge, topless while on a private holiday in the south of France?

And more recently the French president, François Hollande, snapped on a scooter as he made his way to a late night liaison with actress Julie Gayet?

Those were all "stories", complete with photographs published by Closer.

The magazine's latest "target", in what it presumably once again hopes will help boost sales, has been the subject of "rumour" for quite a while.

In fact a "gay lobby" within the FN was was suggested by the far-right weekly newspaper Minute in January 2013 when it claimed on its front cover that "le lobby gay s'introduit partout" - the media, all political parties and even the FN.

At the time, Philippot accused the newspaper of "stigmatising homosexuals and spreading rumours".

Such tittle tattle certainly seemed to put the party's leadership at odds with its declared position at the time of being against gay marriage as the bill to make same-sex marriage legal made its way through parliament with accompanying demonstrations of those opposed to the government's proposals.

The party's  leader, Marine Le Pen, said she was against the reform, but left it open to individual members to decide whether they would join the demonstrations.

So it's perhaps not a surprise that Le Pen "defended" Philippot when the news that Closer had outed him.

"This is a very serious violation of individual freedoms.," she told Europe 1 radio.

"This type of behaviour is unacceptable for Florian Philippot just as much as it was for François Hollande.  Private life is sacred."

Le Pen's reaction has been mirrored by other politicians  across the political spectrum and Tweets (what else) of outrage that what was essentially a private matter should, as far as Closer is concerned, be of public interest.

Proof that the real "scandal" is not that Philippot is gay - that's neither relevant to his political ideas nor particularly interesting.

Rather that a magazine such as Closer should be allowed to continue to "sell" based on publication of unauthorised photos.

Jean-Pierre Pernaut, France's favourite continuity announcer - sorry, news anchor - and Euro 2012

Whatever you might think of the French football team's behaviour during and just after Euro 2012, one thing's for sure.

Each and every player was under close(r) media scrutiny especially after those infamous events in the disastrous World Cup campaign in South Africa back in 2010.

Their gestures, comments and reaction were interpreted and analysed to the  nth degree and unfortunately the performance on the pitch didn't really live up to most commentators' expectations.

Or perhaps it did.

There was the usual (so far) fruitless polemic (the French just love that word) which seems to have been as short-lived as the team's campaign, but will doubtless rear its in the not-too-distant future as the former manager, Laurent Blanc is made a scapegoat for all the teams woes and unbridled hope is invested in his successor.

Overpaid, spoilt brats, ill-educated, lack of team spirit: all descriptions used and lapped up by the media to report the story of Les Bleus.

Heck the team and Samir Nasri's exploits in particular, even made the front cover of one paper not usually given to following the feats of national sporting teams.

The far-right weekly Minute running with a photograph of Nasri and the headline, "They've once again tainted the blue jersey."

Samir Nasri makes front cover of Minute

Set aside for a moment your personal views on their behaviour as reported in much of the press. You would hope and think that the main television and radio bulletins would manage to report the facts, accurately and  without necessarily commenting on them.

Leave that to the experts and the specialists hey? Those from whom you would expect and welcome in-depth analysis.

Aha. But that's not taking into account the talents of one of the country's leading news readers to share with viewers what he surely considers the benefit of his opinion.

Who else but Jean-Pierre Pernaut.

Jean-Pierre Pernaut (screenshot TF1 news)

He presents the weekday lunchtime news on TF1 and is described in his Wikipedia entry (so it MUST be right) as a "news reader and broadcaster" (no mention of journalist) who "combines an avuncular (great word that) personality and authoritative delivery (really?)" that has made him one of France's most popular news readers."

There's little doubt that his "show" - because that's what the lunchtime new tends to be focussing as it does on fluffier, regional pieces rather than hard news -  attracts viewers and has an appeal.

That might say more about what the French enjoy as they digest their meals and it's definitely an approach which Pernaut has nurtured and encouraged during his 20 years + tenure and in his role as editor-in-chief.

Objective, balanced and unbiased journalism though are characteristics which often fail as he sees fit to comment - albeit briefly - on the events, clips and reports he's introducing.

Yep, Pernaut, who let's face it is nothing more than a very high profile continuity announcer (or in French terms an up-to-date version of that emblematic figure of television in its early days here - the Speakerine" only in the male form so without the "e"), has a penchant for sharing what he thinks about a story.

And that's exactly what he did once again this past week when reporting the result of the previous night's quarterfinal between Italy and England, with the Italians qualifying for the semis.

Pernaut managed, in his own inimitable style to pass his wonderfully arrogant judgement as an "informed" sports reporter on the French team's behaviour.

He didn't turn round and say straight out what he thought.

That would have been unprofessional. Tut, tut.

Oh no, Pernaut - his own-editor-in-chief remember so ultimately answerable to...himself, was far more snarky than that.

 "It was a great game between two teams proud to carry the colours of their nation," he said  about the Italy- England game.

"That makes a change," he added.

And he followed that up later in the report when referring to the Italian players' decision not to lay claim to the match bonuses with, "Fortunately there are countries where players have  education and good manners!"

So there you have it.

Jean-Pierre Pernaut, 62 years old (with hair apparently looking as though it's  couple of decades younger) and at the helm of the lunchtime news since 1988, once again proving there's nothing like objectivity in journalism and still a place for an opinionated Speakerin on French telly.

Nadine Morano a racist? Of course not - some of her best friends are Arabs

You kind of know that when someone comes out with that sort of statement (or variations on the same theme to deny they're a homophobe or sexist for example) they're leaving the door wide open to accusations of indeed being what they're claiming not to be.

The claim that because some of her friends are Arabs she cannot be described as a racist is just the latest in a very long list of statements Nadine Morano has made over the years which have put her fairly and squarely in the firing line for ridicule.

Nadine Morano (screenshot "C à vous")

Morano,  you might remember, was the woman for whom there was no difference between "Renault" the French car manufacturer, and "Renaud" the singer.

Oh yes, Morano was well known for her blunders during her time as a junior minister and later a full ministerial post under her former boss Nicolas Sarkozy.

She was one of his most fervent - rabidly so, some might say - supporters, not afraid to disengage her tongue from her brain and whenever television, radio or press needed a rent-a-mouth quote, Morano was on hand to oblige.

Her views already appeared at times somewhat extreme in a centre-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP) party some of whose members often flirted with the ideas of the far-right Front National (FN).
She once described gay pride parades as an "excuse for exhibitionism" and on another occasion she earned the wrath of the French anti-racist non-governmental organisation SOS Racisme when she turned around and said France's young Moslems should, "dress properly, find a job and stop speaking slang".

So perhaps it should come as no surprise that Morano's real colours shone through during the recent parliamentary elections.

First of all Morano gave an interview with the weekly far-right magazine Minute in which she openly called on those who had voted Front National in the first round to help her defeat her Socialist party rival Dominique Potier in the second-round run-off for the Meurthe et Moselle constituency seat she was trying to hold on to.

"We share common values," she said of herself and those FN voters.

And shortly after that interview appeared, Morano found herself "tricked" by radio presenter and comedian Gérald Dahan, who rang her pretending to be Louis Aliot, FN's vice and the partner of the party's leader Marine Le Pen.

Morano told "Aliot" (Dahan) that Le Pen was a woman with "a lot of talent" and the Front National a party which had "a lot of social policies with which I agree."

Fear not though, because Morano is clearly neither a racist nor a xenophobe - in the same way as the FN is simply a party which has built up its support based in its belief in the importance of French values and the threat they are under from immigration.

How do we know?

Because Morano said as much on the early evening magazine "C à vous" on France 5 last week, when she was talking about how difficult the parliamentary campaign had been and how hurtful she had found all those inaccurate accusations of racism.

"Some of my closest friends are Arabs," she said, saving the best to follow.

"And then there's my best friend who is originally from Chad - so she's even blacker than an Arab."

Oh dear.

Out of government and out of parliament (she lost in that run-off against Potier) let's just hope it's a long, long time before we hear from Morano again - if ever.