The politics of broadcasting in France 1974-1978

The subject matter of this thesis is the 1974-75 reorganisation of the French state broadcasting services which abolished the ORTF and the consequences of this reform for the relationship between the Government and broadcasting during the early years of the Giscardian presidency. The originality of the thesis lies in the fact that this reorganisation is placed in an explicitly political context, the election of the first non-Gaullist President of the Fifth Republic and the ensuing conflict between the Gaullist and Giscardian components of the governing coalition. The thesis also makes a significant contribution to the limited amount of academic literature on French broadcasting in general. Placed within the framework of the debate about the role of broadcasting in liberal democracies, the thesis examines the applicability of two antithetical models, the "fourth estate" and "state control" models, to the French broadcasting system since 1974. Neither is found to be satisfactory. Our detailed study of government-broadcasting relations since the reform demonstrates that the political executive, and within the executive particularly the President of the Republic, has at its disposal a variety of means through which to control those aspects of broadcasting in which it has an interest, ranging from determing the legal framework of the state monopoly to appointing political sympathisers to key decision-making posts. Neither the broadcasting staff, the management or the boards of governors of the separate companies set up by the 1974 reform has the freedom of manoeuvre necessary for broadcasting in France to be regarded as a "fourth estate." On the other hand, the "state control" model is too vague and monolithic, unable to allow for change except of a totally radical kind. On the basis of a wide variety of published and unpublished material and interviews with members of broadcasting management, staff, journalists, politicians and civil servants, this thesis shows that government-broadcasting relations in France have altered greatly in form and to a limited extent in substance since 1974. For example, the direct, overt controls which were so much of a feature of de Gaulle's presidency have given way to a reliance on indirect controls, particularly via partisan appointments within the broadcasting companies. This is especially the case with control over news output which has been largely internalised within the radio and television companies

Introduction : the politics of austerity in comparative perspective

The introduction explores the politics and political economy of austerity in comparative perspective, setting out the context of current austerity policies and discourse in Europe. It places the specific exploration of the dynamics and particularities of French austerity politics under Hollande within a broader context of changes since the 1980s to democratic institutions and electoral practices, the politics of European integration and the conditions of complex economic interdependence resulting from processes of deregulation, liberalisation and globalisation. It establishes the rationale behind the focus of the articles in this special issue on, firstly, the link between popular approval of elected politicians, democratic legitimacy and austerity; secondly, the politics and dynamics of state reform processes at the national and subnational levels which are integral to delivering on austerity-oriented commitments to reduce public expenditure; and thirdly, on the increasingly asymmetrical Franco–German relationship whose changing contours have major implications for the politics of austerity in Europe – notably facilitating the dominance of German ordo-liberal economic ideas at the heart of Eurozone crisis responses initiatives

Reflections on the 2022 elections in France

This article analyses, explains and evaluates selected key aspects of the 2022 presidential and parliamentary elections in France. It covers the first five-year term of President Macron, the presidential campaign, the results of both rounds of the presidential election, and the subsequent parliamentary contest at which the re-elected president failed to win a majority for his reform agenda. The article also examines the impact in both elections of the far right under Le Pen’s leadership and the left under Mélenchon’s

Structural basis of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus ADP-ribose-1''-phosphate dephosphorylation by a conserved domain of nsP3.

The crystal structure of a conserved domain of nonstructural protein 3 (nsP3) from severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) has been solved by single-wavelength anomalous dispersion to 1.4 A resolution. The structure of this "X" domain, seen in many single-stranded RNA viruses, reveals a three-layered alpha/beta/alpha core with a macro-H2A-like fold. The putative active site is a solvent-exposed cleft that is conserved in its three structural homologs, yeast Ymx7, Archeoglobus fulgidus AF1521, and Er58 from E. coli. Its sequence is similar to yeast YBR022W (also known as Poa1P), a known phosphatase that acts on ADP-ribose-1''-phosphate (Appr-1''-p). The SARS nsP3 domain readily removes the 1'' phosphate group from Appr-1''-p in in vitro assays, confirming its phosphatase activity. Sequence and structure comparison of all known macro-H2A domains combined with available functional data suggests that proteins of this superfamily form an emerging group of nucleotide phosphatases that dephosphorylate Appr-1''-p

Transcriptional changes in Huntington disease identified using genome-wide expression profiling and cross-platform analysis

Evaluation of transcriptional changes in the striatum may be an effective approach to understanding the natural history of changes in expression contributing to the pathogenesis of Huntington disease (HD). We have performed genome-wide expression profiling of the YAC128 transgenic mouse model of HD at 12 and 24 months of age using two platforms in parallel: Affymetrix and Illumina. The data from these two powerful platforms were integrated to create a combined rank list, thereby revealing the identity of additional genes that proved to be differentially expressed between YAC128 and control mice. Using this approach, we identified 13 genes to be differentially expressed between YAC128 and controls which were validated by quantitative real-time PCR in independent cohorts of animals. In addition, we analyzed additional time points relevant to disease pathology: 3, 6 and 9 months of age. Here we present data showing the evolution of changes in the expression of selected genes: Wt1, Pcdh20 and Actn2 RNA levels change as early as 3 months of age, whereas Gsg1l, Sfmbt2, Acy3, Polr2a and Ppp1r9a RNA expression levels are affected later, at 12 and 24 months of age. We also analyzed the expression of these 13 genes in human HD and control brain, thereby revealing changes in SLC45A3, PCDH20, ACTN2, DDAH1 and PPP1R9A RNA expression. Further study of these genes may unravel novel pathways contributing to HD pathogenesis. DDBJ/EMBL/GenBank accession no: GSE1967

In situ data collection and structure refinement from microcapillary protein crystallization

In situ X-ray data collection has the potential to eliminate the challenging task of mounting and cryocooling often fragile protein crystals, reducing a major bottleneck in the structure determination process. An apparatus used to grow protein crystals in capillaries and to compare the background X-ray scattering of the components, including thin-walled glass capillaries against Teflon, and various fluorocarbon oils against each other, is described. Using thaumatin as a test case at 1.8 angstrom resolution, this study demonstrates that high-resolution electron density maps and refined models can be obtained from in situ diffraction of crystals grown in microcapillaries

Time-Controlled Microfluidic Seeding in nL-Volume Droplets To Separate Nucleation and Growth Stages of Protein Crystallization

This paper describes a method of time-controlled seeding to separate the stages of nucleation and growth in protein crystallization using a microfluidic device