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Le Canard enchaîné

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The Canard uses a funny presentation.
The Canard uses a funny presentation.
File:Article canard wikipedia.jpg
Article of the Canard Enchaîné mocking Nicolas Sarkozy and citing Wikipedia as source.

Le Canard enchaîné is a satirical newspaper published weekly in France, founded in 1915, featuring investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as a large number of jokes and humorous cartoons. It has a circulation of 446,000.

Presentation

Its name itself is a reference to Georges Clemenceau's newspaper L'homme libre ("The Free Man") which was forced to close by government censorship; Le Canard enchaîné means "The chained-up duck", but canard (duck) is also French slang for "newspaper" (in contemporary French usage, contrary to English usage, canard does not have the meaning of hoax).

It was also a reference to the trench journals published by soldiers during World War I.

It was founded by Maurice Maréchal and his wife Jeanne Maréchal.

It continued to publish and grow in popularity and influence until it was forced to suspend publication during the German occupation of France in 1940. After Liberation, it resumed publication. It gained its 8-page format in the 1960s.

The Canard is known for its independence; it does not publish any advertisements and its owners are not tied to any political or economic group.

The Canard is notable because of its focus on scandals in the governmental and business circles of France, though it does cover other countries as well. In the past, major French newspapers were reluctant to challenge government corruption, or pursue embarrassing scandals, though they are now more aggressive; the Canard mended that deficiency. The Canard publishes "insider knowledge" on politicians and "leaks" from administration officials, including information from whistle-blowers. The Canard is in general well informed on what goes on within the French political world. Its revelations have sometimes brought about the resignation of cabinet ministers.

Though it has recently improved, its international coverage was spotty, and it relies mostly on leaks from French government services and reports from the other media.

Some of the information published by the Canard obviously comes from very well-placed sources, including probably ministerial aides. Charles de Gaulle was a frequent target; he was known to ask, "What does the damned bird have to say this week?" on each day the Canard rolled off the presses. There are often verbatim and off-the-record quotes from major politicans, including the President and Prime Minister, usually aimed at another politician.

The Canard also publishes satirical cartoons and jokes. The factual and jocular columns are cleanly delineated.

Famous are the weekly bogus interview, its weekly profile ("Prises de Bec"), its famous section of press clippings (typos and malaproprisms found in the French press), as well as its infamous "Sur l'Album de la Comtesse" section of hilarious cryptic spoonerisms.

The Canard also reports on topics affecting the general population: scandals in industries (workforce, safety issues), miscarriages of justice, bad behavior of public administrations and services...

The Canard has a left-wing political bias, and many of its early contributors were members of the Communist and Socialist parties, but shed its alignment in the 1920's. However it fiercely defends its independence against any alignment and it is known for publishing incriminating stories and criticizing all political parties with no preference. It is also fairly anti-clerical and lampoons the nobility.

As with the British satirical magazine Private Eye, it has its own language, jargon and style.

As of 2004, the publisher of the Canard is Michel Gaillard, and the head editors are Claude Angeli and Erik Emptaz. The Canard's cartoonists include:

The Canard has a fixed 8 page layout. Pages 1-4 and 8 are mostly information and editorials. Pages 5-7 are dedicated to social issues (such as the environment), profiles, general humour and satire, Cabu's "Beauf" comic strip, and literary, theater, opera and movie criticism.

It also publishes a quarterly magazine, Les Dossiers du Canard, dedicated to one subject, usually one affecting French society, or world events as seen from a French perspective.

Scandals

The "Plumbers' affair"

On December 3, 1973, policemen of the Directorate of Territorial Surveillance (DST), disguised as plumbers, were caught trying to install a spy microphone in the directorial office of Le Canard. The resulting scandal forced Interior Minister Raymond Marcellin to leave the government, though it is said that Marcellin was a scapegoat for other members of the government, especially the Defense Minister, who was intent on knowing the identities of informers for the newspaper.

Famous investigations

Ownership

The Canard is published by Les Éditions Maréchal - Le Canard Enchaîné (Maurice and Jeanne Maréchal founded the Canard), which is privately owned; the main associates are Michel Gaillard (CEO and director of publication), André Escaro, Nicolas Brimo, Erik Emptaz and employees of the newspaper.

References

  1. ^ Template:Fr "Orange, SFR et Bouygues Telecom condamnés - Pourquoi les amendes ne vont rien changer". Le Nouvel Observateur. December 8, 2005.
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