In this module, we will be taking a historical overview of the relation between presidents and the media across the Fifth Republic (i.e. since 1958). It is very important that you develop a good historical understanding both of general shifts in the media and of the contexts for the action of successive French presidents.

As we are focusing specifically on presidents and the media, I would urge you strongly to read an overview looking specifically at the role of French presidents in the Fifth Republic. This will put you in a much stronger position to assess the changing media strategies of the presidents involved (as these only really make sense in terms of the general political contexts and challenges faced by each president). An accessible single-volume account is The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic (ed. J Gaffney, Palgrave, 2013) This is available as an ebook through the University of Warwick library, and can be downloaded as a free pdf (the 'Springer ebook' option is much the most practical one to choose, rather than the 'Proquest'). While reading as an introductory overview, you could read chapters 2 and 4 (useful general analyses of the institution of the presidency itself and associated leadership styles), and then the individual chapters on individual presidents (chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10). We will supplement these in the last 3 weeks of the module with accounts of the two most recent presidents (Hollande and Macron). As regards Macron, it would be a good idea over the summer to get in the habit of looking at news coverage in French newspapers, magazines and/or TV, and to consider how Macron uses the media, and how the media use him. This will prepare you for some of the issues we will be covering over the module.

When the module starts I will make available to this year's students the Moodle for this module. This will contain, among other things, electronic versions of weekly seminar reading (articles and chapters) focusing specifically on presidential uses of and approaches to media, as well as many video clips so that we can study presidential performance.