Pave: "It's A Cultural Style", IV

Le jour 142 de Sarko

As Pave regulars know, we have been following developments in the Fr2 defamation suit against Philippe Karsenty, the director of Media Ratings, and his subsequent appeal. The French court has recently ordered Fr2 to produce the rushes from which the controversial Fr2 broadcast was stitched up. The court will view said rushes in their entirety November 14 -- an unprecedented writ for a legal system without American-style discovery, where evidence and testimony are equally available to both parties.

Ah, but if you are one of our many many many French non-readers, well, this is just another Thursday. Circulez, circulez. Il n'y a rien à voir.

FRENCH COURT ORDERS FRANCE 2 TO TURN OVER AL DURA 'RUSHES'

October 4, 2007 (PJM) - French mainstream media are observing, to date, a total blackout of information on the case. The same media that touted the France 2 victory over Karsenty in October 2006, with headlines claiming "The icon of the Intifada was not staged", have turned a blind eye to new developments.

Except for Charles Enderlin who dances with joy on his France 2 blog.* Announcing the decision to project the footage as if it were his own ultra bright idea, he justifies the refusal over the past seven years to expose it to public or even semi-private scrutiny as a sign of exquisite legality. Only the Court has eyes pure enough to contemplate the handiwork of camerman Talal Abu Rahma.

Fr2 has advanced its defamation claim without the bother of actually defending the Enderlin broadcast based on the Rahma footage and narrative. What is at issue for the French court is, without access to the probative footage, were Philippe Karsenty's claims made in good faith? Were M. Karsenty's claims legally tenable?

As we came out the courtroom this afternoon, my informer explained to me that the Court will not, of course, judge the authenticity of the so-called news report; the case will be decided on the basis of Karsenty’s good faith and adequate investigation of the charges he relayed, as director of Media-Ratings, against France 2 and Charles Enderlin. True enough. But the court must have an inkling that the outtakes will be a fair indication of the overall quality of the whole al Dura report. The ruling will turn on a legal technicality—did Karsenty’s second-hand knowledge of the approximate contents of the outtakes justify accrediting the accusation that France 2 had broadcast a staged scene? But the wisdom behind the judgment will certainly be informed by the view of 27 minutes of staged scenes filmed by the prize-winning France 2 cameraman…and now presented by France 2 as proof of its good faith.

We are skeptical that Fr2 is acting in good faith seven years after the fact by order of the court. Fr2 is crossing its fingers and complying with a court order.

An online petition challenging Fr2's secrecy can be found here. We don't put much stock in these sorts of things, but do sign if you think a respectful but firm request with several hundreds or thousands of signatories is all Fr2 has been waiting for to come clean.

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* Charles Enderlin: Je suis personnellement extrêmement satisfait du souhait de la cour d'appel de Paris de visionner les rushes tournés le 30 septembre et le 1 octobre 2000 par Talal Abou Rahmeh le correspondant de France 2 à Gaza.

PFFT (What is this?): Coming soon to a French court, Pallywood 4 | Rayonnement français ½