Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

Libération
www.liberation.fr
The third quality daily newspaper in France, Libération
was founded in 1973 by Jean-Paul Sartre and is a
staunchly left-wing newspaper. 10 In 2005, 40% of the
newspaper was bought by Édouard de Rothschild, who
took a very active role in the paper, which prompted
several leading journalists to leave the publication.
Libération has an average daily circulation of 115,000
copies. 11
FINDINGS:
The Eurozone Crisis
- The French media was critical of the EU’s inability to
agree on a solution to the Eurozone crisis. 12
- In September 2011, the media reported that France
agreed to push for increased budgetary discipline, a
system of stricter controls on national deficits, and
automatic sanctions on member states. 13
- The media reported on continuing disagreement between
France and Germany over whether the new accord
would affect all EU member states or only the
states in the Eurozone. 14
- The media also focused on a disagreement within the
EU about whether there should be a club of ‘super-
Europeans’ (countries with a AAA credit rating), who
would commit to a stability and growth pact. 15
- The media reported that throughout these negotiations,
France positioned itself strongly in favour of
‘solidarité’ among EU countries. 16
- France does not favour providing the EU with the
powers to intervene in the domestic economic affairs
of its member states, whereas Germany and the Netherlands
do. 17
- With the exception of the UK, all member states at the
European Council meeting on 9 December 2011,
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