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Week 2: Television from de Gaulle to Hollande


Key questions: Why has French television always been subject to state control? How has this control impacted on the content of television in France?

This week we will be examining the role of the French state in shaping the content of French television, beginning with de Gaulle's return to power as President of the Fifth Republic in 1958 and culminating in the present-day with Hollande.

In the lecture, I'll outline the main ways in which the French state has sought to control the television since de Gaulle, and in the seminars we'll look at a documentary film on French television to discuss these issues in more detail.

Reading

Ahead of the lecture and seminars this week, please read the following:

Raymond Kuhn, 'The Media and the 2012 Presidential Elections,' in Modern and Contemporary France, Vol. 21, Issue No. 1, 2013, pp.1-16

Lecture resources

Download the lecture handout; lecture PowerPoint