Dialogue in and between Different Cultures - International ...

80 Natàlia Izard & Clara-Ubaldina Lorda
de manifestacions que han derivat en revoltes (“the streets of Paris have held
demonstrations today that have turned to riots”).
The CPE is referred to as la regulació laboral del govern que precaritza la feina
dels joves (“the government work regulation which makes the employment of
young people precarious”). The critical explanation of the new contract is
immediately put into perspective with an impersonal speaker, diuen (“it is said”).
The contract is then negatively paraphrased, l’empitjorament de les condicions
laborals (“the worsening of work conditions”). A global sociological consideration
is made: la primera generació de francesos que viurà pitjor que els seus
pares (“the first generation of French which will have a worse life than their
parents”). This explanation is attributed to the actors, since we are told that it has
been heard on the streets of Paris.
The news item consists of a first description of the demonstration in Paris, but
some thirty further demonstrations around France are also mentioned. We are also
told about strikes in high schools and universities. In this report, we can also hear
the accounts of a young man and a young woman who are demonstrating, and
they both express their opinions against the CPE.
The news finishes with the announcement of future action and with comments
and hypotheses about the eventual reactions of the French government.
The next day, March 17 th , TV3 does not give account on the demonstration of
the previous day. We hear about it indirectly. The journalist retells information of
the British paper The Times, where the action of the French young people is
compared to the Spanish macrobotellón 4 .
In general, the TV3 reporting is more dysphoric than La 2, although it
pretends to be neutral by attributing the criticism to the voices of the demonstrators.
Few details are given, but at least, the violence and the tension are
mentioned. Like on La 2, there is no explanation or precise description of this
polemical contract. But, contrary to La 2, on the Catalan TV, there is no historical
contextualization. However, there is an allusion, made by a third party, to the
macrobotellón organized by the Spanish young people. This allusion implicitly
compares the opposed motivations of the young people in France and Spain.
7. The solemn key of information on the private channel Cuatro
The night news of Cuatro is conducted by a prestigious journalist, Iñaki
Gabilondo (IG from now on). It begins with a very pictographic and synthetic
presentation of the events: many terms and modifications highlight the conflicts
of the demonstration: un día de enormes tumultos (“a day of enormous uproars”),
ira de los estudiantes (“students’ wrath”), las calles de Francia, escenario de las
4 In Spain botellón is the name given to the habit of many young people to gather on a square or
on the street at night and to drink beer or other alcoholic drinks from the bottle. On the day of the
demonstration in France, some macrobotellones were organized by young people in the main
Spanish cities in order to defend this activity from its detractors.