The Development of Freedom of Opinion and Information in France through the Freedom of the Press (1875-2004)

Extract

[...] Our study will therefore focus on the following issue: we will show how, from the constitutional laws and the affirmation of the republican regime in 1875, France initiated a rapid progress in the correlated development of freedom of opinion and information through the freedom of the press, which will make newspapers a much more important actor in French political life than before. To achieve this, we will first establish a parallel between the history of L'Indépendant, as partially mentioned in the excerpt, and the history of French politics, between 1846 and 1875. [...]

[...] The affirmation of the right to explicitly criticize the political personnel It is particularly worth noting that while it is not surprising that opponents of the current regime are harshly criticized (having 'an unparalleled trick' or 'an unparalleled audacity'), the newspaper, which is itself republican, also criticizes certain republican politicians in power, including its own prefect. This illustrates both the fact that freedom of expression seems to be acquired, and a certain progress in journalistic objectivity. The praise of external democratic systems The mention of English political systems (already ancient and relatively stable constitutional monarchy) and American (republican and federal regime) is recurring, and the praise of these systems demonstrates the writer's desire to see France follow a similar path. [...]

[...] L'Indépendant des Pyrénées-Orientales, Extract - Gérard Bonet (2004) - To what extent, from the constitutional laws and the affirmation of the republican regime in 1875, did France initiate rapid progress in the correlated development of freedom of opinion and information through the freedom of the press, which made newspapers a much more important actor in French political life than before? - Introduction and detailed outline Introduction The text we are analyzing here is an excerpt from Gérard Bonet's work, titled 'L'Indépendant des Pyrénées-Orientales. [...]

[...] In the same way, he also notes the correlation between the republican regime and better information (and therefore understanding of political issues) of the population of these countries. III- Local Press, an intermediary that asserts itself to inform a specific public The bet on a increasingly wider readership In 1875, L'Indépendant anticipated that the political evolutions in France would be translated into social evolutions, particularly in the interest of the general public for information (present in the mentioned democratic regimes). [...]

[...] On the other hand, in 1875, we are still very close chronologically to authoritarian regimes, and the crises to come, such as the actions surrounding Boulanger or the Dreyfus affair, will demonstrate both the strengths and weaknesses of the press as a counter-power. A text written in 1875 should therefore be understood more as an affirmation of the potential for the evolution of press freedom thanks to the new regime, rather than as a presentation of verified achievements. However, it largely justifies the use of the method of studying newspapers to better understand a particular era. [...]