French President Nicolas Sarkozy has recently come under the press' fire, after he and his party criticized AFP coverage. But political dissensions should by no means lead to inaccurate journalism, which is exactly what the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur did when it attributed these words to Sarkozy, during an informal meeting with a group of journalists:

"(expletive) guys, it's hot, let's go the terrace!" When asked about his visit in Tunisia and journalists there, the Nouvel Obs reported that Sarkozy had answered: "Don't give a damn, anyway, they're only a bunch of (expletive) who ask (expletive) questions..."

This would be crunchy content, especially knowing of Sarkozy's previous ethical missteps (a video shot by Le Parisien of Sarkozy insulting a citizen drew a million viewers in a day).

The problem is that this information was inaccurate, and that the Nouvel Observateur later admitted this information hadn't been verified and presented its apologies.

In fact, there wasn't even a Nouvel Obs reporter at the time of Sarkozy's meeting.

Let it serve as reminder to the press as a whole, in France and elsewhere, that a necessary degree of partisanship and political contestation shouldn't lead to inaccurate journalism.

Source: Le Monde (link in French)