Does Anyone Actually Work for their Paycheck in France?
Hit and Run pointed out this story about a left-wing French newspaper that is looking to the Rothschilds for financial help. I thought this would be a more interesting story of hippie meets banker, but I did find this one bit fascinating (shown in bold):
Mr. Rothschild, a scion of the powerful banking family,
forced out the long-serving editor of the paper in the summer. Serge
July, the editor who had created Libération along with
philosopher-writer Jean-Paul Sartre, said he resigned in hopes that his
departure would help save the paper from more radical changes.Mr. July's exit was covered in the French media as the end of an era, a French version of the Japanese
seppuku, or ritual suicide, by a man who represented a more uncorrupted, hopeful France.Since Mr. July left, some of Libération's best-known
reporters have quit, including Florence Aubenas, who was held hostage
in Iraq for six months in 2005. They have invoked the "conscience
clause" in French law that requires media owners to continue paying the
salary of journalists whose honor is offended by the owners' policies
or politics.
How screwed up does a legislature have to be to pass something this ridiculous?
