France's new rolling international news channel, which promises to show world events "through French eyes", was shaped in part by Jacques Chirac's opposition to the war in Iraq in 2003 and his belief that France's voice must be heard in living rooms around the globe, writes Angelique Chrisafis.
So when the president launched his pet media project last night at a glittering ceremony in Paris's Tuileries gardens, it was astonishingly good timing that the top story on the bulletin was the Iraq Study Group report on the failings in Iraq.
So how would the eagerly awaited "CNN à la française" treat the story? And what did it have to offer that was different than everyone else?
The first bulletin, beamed live at 8:30pm last night onto giant screens at the Champs Elysée carried reports from Iraq and also Lebanon. Then this morning, the channel (available at www.france24.com and on cable and satellite from tonight) led news bulletins with Tony Blair's visit to Washington , stressing that "even the most faithful ally of Bush is working on changing strategy in Iraq."
As part of its mission to illustrate the "diversity" of the world, the morning press review focused on Syrian and Iranian newspapers' reaction to the report, though the front pages in Tehran were far more interested in Iranian Hercules, Hossein Rezazadeh, winning a gold medal in weightlifting at the Asian games. As the news ticker proudly announced "France 24 goes live", the paper reviewer also took time to read out flattering reports on the station's newscasters from the French papers.
After the news, it was straight to a discussion programme with Tom Sancton, the former Paris bureau chief of Time magazine, about his new novel, the Armageddon Project, a political thriller on religion, oil and the US government's role in the Middle East -- the perfect chance to debate how the land of democracy and the rights of man could become the land of Guatanamo bay and Abu Ghraib.
Le Monde's TV reviewer cautioned this afternoon that the concept of a French station exporting French values was hard to define, wondering how many across the world would be tuning in in English, French and later Arabic and Spanish. Others have wondered whether France 24 can compete with stations like BBC World and Al-Jazeera International on a fraction of the budget.
Today's A week in France, the flagship programme on French politics and society, seemed very much a look backwards, taking in the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to run for president, announced last Wednesday night, and the socialist contender Segolene Royal's visit to the Middle East this weekend.
The station's first "art de vivre" lifestyle segment explored the "French gastronomic talent" of chocolate-making. A German tourist at Paris's Salon du Chocolat -- held in October -- explained why France was a chocolate lovers' Paradise and makers explained that 40,000 tons of the stuff would be eaten in France over the festive season.
