Miss Kolka

So what has happened since my last blog? Absolutely nothing! As with so many other dillusional ideas the president has, closing France 24 was announced and then as noone could explain why or how it would be done, it has now been put on hold. This president loves to blabber about just anything to get attention. Any attention is better than no attention (did his mother show him enough when he was a baby?). Our fellow workers at the french public service also got some bad news when he announced that he would cancel all advertising on public television. Two months and hundreds of people in panic later, the public service decided to strike unanimously on tv and radio yesterday to make a point: "what now?" This has been announced.. but for when and what does it mean for the public service? Where will the money come from? ( the fees are not nearly enough for all the stations to work, around 30% of revenu comes from advertising) And what is going to replace the air time of advertising - which could account for 2-3 hours of programming every day on each channel? No one knows... some abstract taxes on internet and mobile phones - how? with advertisers paying for publicity on private channels AS WELL as for a tax to the public channels? It makes no sense.

I dont know about that strike though, whether it truly achieved anything at all, that is according to my dad, the french answer to all problems... If there is a strike, it is a serious problem. Does it still work like that? I also think the french people should ask themselves alot more often WHY? Why is the president deciding this? Why does he want to ban advertising on public television when one of his best friends owns the biggest private television network? How much did the shares of that company go up again the DAY sarkozy announced the changes for public broadcasting?

The question remains, what now? No one knows and I doubt the man behind all the panic has the slightest idea himself. He just has opinions. Opinions on everything all the time and unfortuntely we have to hear about them everywhere, all the time. Maybe a little less opinion and a little more information would be better. To take decisions, one needs to gather information and TALK to people (not only to a handful of mysterious advisors). To learn, one has to listen. And to Govern successfully, one has to delegate. One person cannot rule every little aspect of a country with over 60 million people alone. It would help if the president concentrated (does he know how to do that?)on a few matters and then would know what he was talking about.

Anyway, like my fellow news junkie pointed out yesterday I am finally becoming a real french journalist. I am obsessed with everything the president says and does. Im obsessed with his wife, Im obsessed by how rude he is, Im obsessed by how he lets his son ruin the reputation of a poor spokesperson, I am obsessed by all the stupid things he says all the time without anyone ever questioning publicly his judgement and decisions. And when I hear about his ministers that "punish " the journalists because they haven't been nice in Guinea, may I remind you, just doing their job- I just get mad. Lets just hope I can just hold on a branch of critical thought amid all the political propaganda splashed at me all day long. Or I might have to get into a whole different profession. I am thinking about it. Seriously.

After all that buzz last week: France 24 might be closed down (at least the english and arabic sides), lots of people coming forward (even ministers in the government) saying that it is a bad idea exc. - it still seems to be a waiting game. The unions answered the proposal made by the French president in a widely published press release but people at the channel are still extremely worried, and it is understandable. Especially since no email has been sent to the staff from higher grounds- just to tell people not to panic or whatever... isn't it the work of management to reassure its troops in time like these?

Ok they did have a "galette des rois" the day after. - a traditional cake to celebrate new year where a little toy is hidden inside it and who ever gets the toy is king or queen - Oh and champagne of course. Somehow it did not ease tensions or worries - even though each king and queen got an ipod (I ate 4 slices of the very fat cake until I almost had to throw up - but no luck and therefore no ipod). People just want to know whether it is a real threat or not and what to do. Perhaps noone knows. In unconfirmed news, the day Sarkozy had that famous press conference, the BBC recieved a unusual amount of CV's - sent from France.

I'm so naive that I didn't even think of sending one.. and in the days that followed, was so terribly upset I didn't get an ipod that it didn't cross my mind. Let's say I am an optimist.

Back on track... and straight into the Sarko-world! I wasn't actually working today, which is strange because every time there is a Sarkozy news conference I seem to be working. Maybe there are just so many. It didn't stop me from listening to two hours of Mr Le President. And it made me think. about alot of things.

Many areas were covered by Nico Sarko; education, health, enviroment and plans for 2008. The overall theme being that France had to change because THAT was what he had been elected to do - and quickly too. He said he was against the 35 hour work week France is so notoriously known for (except that its not really applied, people that have to work more just collect off-days instead of being paid extra.. like this doctor I saw yesterday, he has already collected 100 days in overtime but he can't take them because there isn't enough staff to cover the shifts ...)  So it is probable to see the implementation of Sarkozy's "work-more-to-earn-more" policy in 2008. The problem is not that people that actually work, work little but their work seems not to be recognised as such - and the wages are way too low as well. A woman I met working in a supermarket gets 690 euros for her month's work. My rent is 850 euros, and I live in 33 squaremeters and not on the Champs Elysées I'll have you note. How can that be right?

It might be right though that french workers do not work as much in neighbouring countries.  But I don't think that is the main problem here. It is the mentality and the way of seeing work as a negative force in your life - saying you like your job was actually taboo for a long time in French society. The answer is not necessarily to work longer hours. (most of the people I know work 8-10 hours a day). Shouldn't we all rather try to be more effective? To be more practical and try to make things easier for everyone instead of complicating everything with paper work and hiararchy that cannot been shuffled?  Use modern technology and computers instead of paper folders that still are very common in the french office. Its time to modernise and its only a question of being organised. Oh and also of trust. Why should employees care about the progress of their company if they are not trusted with any responsability? Especially if they wont benefit from the possible success either? One of the things addressed by the French President - of course employees should also benefit if their company is successful and not only the shareholders. It sure sounds good, I would have liked him to be more precise on how he was going to implement that in french companies. Something more concrete than just words.

Words, stupid words. And so also words about my own company and the merger decision we have been waiting for. France 24, Radio France Internationale, and Television station TV5 should all be combined under a new name "France Monde". How that is going to be done still remains unclear.. Although the president was clear about one thing: "We want to distribute French values around the world and that can only be done in French, not on english and not in arabic." Very bad news for France 24 indeed. How is that possible? Its ridiculous to assume that other countries will watch an international news station only in French or with subtitles in their language! If the president understood how a news station works he would see that is practically impossible to subtitle live events. And what a joke - The french president's proposition for a global channel to be subtitled is even the more absurd as the French don't know the concept of subtitles. Have you EVER seen subtitled programs on a French tv station (ARTE being the exception since its a franco-german project)? What makes you think, Mr President that since you and your fellow countrymen dont have the patience to read subtitles, other countries will?? The more I think about it, the more it makes me mad.

Hello, my name is Kolka and Im a News junkie.

"Hello Kolka"

I come before you because I am aware of my addiction, and I want to try to control it.

My case is not so uncommun. For instance yesterday I looked at the clock anxiously every 2 minutes for half an hour and waited for the time to be "off-news- o'clock" so I could finally turn on the television. I will admit it wasn't easy.. What about the three FARC hostages in Colombia, had they been released??? And What about the violence in Kenya? Would the opposition just take the more-than-probably rigged election results without a fight? I wanted to know so badly... so I turned on CNN "only for research purposes". And spent the next 12 hours glued to the screen.

Oh how bad it is, I know..

It is therefore with great regret that I announce that I will go on a one week news-cure trip in a land far far away. With no Tv, Radio (I will ask for a car specially without it) and especially no internet. Thank god my fellow and favourite news junkie is joining me on this trip... I hope we will find some kind of amuzement, some way of not being bored to death or falling back into habit on the Island of beauty... I hear they have goats and wild pigs.. only if I could record a newsworthy attack of one of these creatures and send it to the observers website or I-report.. no no.. Lets hope that the Island trip  offers more than beautiful landscapes, gorgeous food, interesting locations, great company and a perfect rest from all that is happening on the world stage. Its going to be sooo hard...

Farewell my lovely news.. 

So Benazir Bhutto has been assasinated. Did she get too close to her own people? Perhaps it was bound to happen. A woman fighting for democracy in a muslim country who already escaped attacks two months ago when she returned from exile and where 140 of her supporters died. Bhutto was not perfect but she didnt deserve to die for her beliefs. No one does. Not long time ago she was asked if she wasn't scared for her own life in Pakistan's deadly politics. She answered:

"I dont believe a true muslim will attack me, I believe Islam forbids suicide bombings ... " Well someone did get her in the end, but certainly not a martyr going to paradise to meet the 72 virgins.

How sad it all is, her father hanged, her two brothers killed and now the "icon of Democracy" gunned down at a rally, just a week before the highly contested elections. Leaving behind a mourning husband, 3 children and a country in chaos.

What a mess.

• How much is enough? | 09-05-2008
• Where is Iceland's money coming from? | 06-05-2008
• There's no way out | 19-04-2008
• Sendi it back to China | 07-04-2008
• Poisson d'avril | 01-04-2008
• Wish I was | 30-03-2008
• lesser of two evils | 27-03-2008
• in my head | 25-03-2008
• Where are all the drugs going? | 11-03-2008
• Why is she so controversial? | 07-03-2008
• Presidential obsession | 14-02-2008
• All we can do is wait | 14-01-2008
• The stupidity of the French President (read to the bottom for it to make sense) | 08-01-2008
• S.O.S. | 30-12-2007
• In memoriam | 27-12-2007