French Weeklies Press Review 10 December 2017

The life of times of Johnny; France's iconic King of le Rock'n'Roll. Celebrations of a very different Frenchman's life. Plus, afflicting the comfortable and comforting the afflicted with investigative journalism.

Revue de presse des hebdomadaires DR

Glancing at the covers of some of this week's French weeklies you could be forgiven for thinking that a popular novelist, a movie star, maybe an eminent scientist had shuffled off this mortal coil.

You would be wrong.

Among others, l'Obs and l'Express, publications which usually take themselves very seriously indeed, give over their covers to a sharp featured young man cradling an electric guitar. "Johnny. A Life in Rock'n'Roll" proclaims l'Express.

Unless you are an avid Francophile and/or a regular visitor to RFI or our sister channel France 24, you're probably asking yourself

"Who's Johnny?" The guitar is a clue, of course. Yes. It's that "Johnny". Johnny Hallyday, France's favourite rock star or, whisper it quietly, France only rock star, who died last week at the age of 74, after a career spanning 57 years.

During this time, the man born as Jean-Philippe Léo Smet - his father was Belgian - as was Johnny until he took French citizenship at then age of 18 - achieved the status of French national icon, a national treasure.

To Anglo Saxons - few of whom could name let alone hum any of his hits - this is one of the enduring mysteries of French life; along with whether typically slender Parisiennes eat anything or simply pusharound their food on the plate.

L'Express devotes 42 pages to Johnny's life and times. Launching its odyssey around Johnny - 181 tours, 18 platinum albums, 110 million records sold, four marriages etc etc - l'Express waxes lyrical. It notes the tsunami of reactions to news of his unexpected death from across French society, the blanket media coverage, the fact that he was known to everyone in France.

"Mocked, criticised, applauded, worshipped. He is a man who has known everything, except indifference. In this, he is undoubtedly a noble artist; above the commonplace. He could be wrong, he could burn his fingers in the flames of his fame, but he walked his long road.

L'Express pays tribute to him. Johnny Hallyday was there, he still is." I don't suppose Voltaire is spinning in his grave. But I suspect he's having a laugh at such hagiography.

To be fair, to survive in the spotlight and remain popular for almost six decades is astonishing. I can't think of a single "President for Life" who's managed that. Although, among rock legends, Mick Jaggerand Bob Dylan are contenders.

Not to be outdone, l'Obs is as profligate as l'Express. "The king is dead" it howls on the first of 46 pages in a Special Edition.

"With the disappearance of the greatest rocker in the hexagon (that's the approximate shape of mainland France) several generations of the French are in mourning," says l'Obs. "In half a century, this good natured chameleon, this peerless showman has become a real national monument."

So now we know.

*******

To its credit, Marianne gives joint top billing to what it calls "The Immortals." Pictured with Johnny (who else?) is Jean d'Ormesson, an aristocratic French novelist, philosopher and journalist who once ranked as the youngest member of the Académie Française. He died last week aged 92.

 Le Point is even less enchanted by "Johnny" and devotes its entire cover to d'Ormesson. The headline on its lede story is unequivocal : "A good man." He was, le Point says, "part of the national heritage in the same way as the Eiffel tower, the Chateau of Versailles or Mont Saint Michel."

His was a world apart from Johnny's working class, leather clad bikers. A discreet, elegant world of scholarship, old money, the great and the good.

It tells us something about contemporary France that both are held in such high regard.

*******

Last but not least, a second edition of l'Express has on its cover what it calls "The man who divides France." This is Edwy Plenel, the former editor-in-chief of le Monde who, a decade ago, founded

"Mediapart", a French online investigative and opinion journal published in French, English and Spanish.

It accepts no advertising and routinely opens cans of worms that discomfort and hold to account the powerful.

"One adores it or one detests it," says l' Express. The good news for French journalism is that Mediapart has around 60,000 paid subscribers and is thriving.