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Sarkozy’s wife attacks media

Paris: French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy on Wednesday took the unprecedented step of writing an opinion piece in a national newspaper on the ethics of journalism, attacking reporters who took gossip for fact and who used anonymous sources.

The article follows a scandal over a text message the President was reported to have sent to his ex-wife.

The scandal has gripped France for weeks since Le Nouvel Observateur’s website reported that Mr. Sarkozy, eight days before his whirlwind marriage to Ms. Bruni, sent a text message to his ex-wife Cecilia saying: “If you come back, I’ll call it all off.” The President launched a criminal case accusing the magazine’s reporter of falsification and of handling falsified documents, which can incur a three-year prison term. Journalists protested that he was trying to intimidate them. On Wednesday, Ms. Bruni wrote a piece in Le Monde announcing that her husband had dropped the court action because the reporter had apologised to her.

— © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2008

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