Traditional

Mediapart: This newspaper is a French based newspaper that is online only. While it is based out of France and covers French news it is also available to read easily in English and Spanish. The newspaper is only funded by subscribers, and does not take any partnerships or sponsorships, so there is little to no bias, but they do lean left. The newspaper is written by a group of journalists, but also subscribers have their own section to contribute to news. It is set up like any other newspaper, but in an online format, and is updated weekly. I think the strengths are the multiple different languages, as well as the fact that subscribers are able to have their own column to contribute. I think a weakness might be the left leaning political bias. This newsource is important because it is coming from the people and is very easy to access over all social media platforms and through this link. https://www.mediapart.fr/en/english

20 Minutes: This is a daily newspaper in France, and many other EU countries, that highlights events in that country. It is also formatted like a traditional newspaper, and also has an online version. The publisher is actually based out of Norway, and is written by local journalists. It is only in major cities in France, and it is harder to get a translated version, which is some of its downfalls. It does however cover both national and regional news, and as the title states is a quick 20 minute read. It is not clear if the paper has a particular perspective, but seems to focus on major news. It can be accessed through this link.

https://www.20minutes.fr/

Le Monde: This newspaper is a French based newspaper that has a number of tenured writers who are focused on analysis writing rather than overall coverage of events. It is printed every day, and has a website. It is an international paper that is released in many countries. It is also offered in a number of languages making it available to a large number of people. Information from this source ranges from French news to international news, and even French culture. The strengths are its vast spread across the world in terms of accessibility as well as language accessibility. The newspaper is left leaning but tends to analyze news events giving a different outlook than most newspapers which is also a strength. Its weakness is that they can have biased information. I chose this source because it is the most popular newspaper in France and is the only one published in multiple countries, so it has a large influence. https://www.lemonde.fr/en/

Paris Match: This is a periodical/magazine based out of Paris. It is unclear who the writers are. The format is that of a magazine and it is released weekly, but the website is set up like a newspaper website. One of the cons is that the magazine is only printed and released on the website in French, but it is possible to translate the website. The source is not leaning in any direction and just reports on news, pop culture, and big events, which is a positive. I choose this source because it is very modern and is one of the oldest and most influential magazines so it is interesting to read what is influencing the French Public. https://www.parismatch.com/

New

The Local: For new media I chose this website because I feel like it covers a range of things from not only news, but culture, rentals, etc. I feel like it is targeted at a younger audience and those abroad. The editing and publishing staff are all natives to different countries, and have lived in France at one point in time. I think this makes it have little to no bias or perspective because they are trying to educate others, rather than find supporters within the country. It is set up like a website, but also in a news source type of way with many different sections and the ability to filter through ideas. It is set up in many different languages and many different EU countries. I think the strengths would be the accessibility and the editors’ education rather than convincing, but a downfall might be that it doesn’t just focus on France and still has international news mixed in. It is a good source to use because of its modern take on news. Here is a link https://www.thelocal.fr/

The Guardian: This is a very popular British newspaper. I choose it because of its blog section, and its large selection of information to pull from. There are many different authors who tend to have a left leaning bias when writing. The source is printed, but I feel as if a lot of people access it online. It is only offered in English, but is easily translatable online. The source is updated frequently and promptly. The information on this source is very broad, and it has a lot of coverage on France, especially when there are big events going on. I think the strength is now how widely it is used and how popular the source is, but the con would be the barrier to read easily especially for a French person. I think it is valuable because we tend to pull a decent amount of information from the guardian and it is no different for France. https://www.theguardian.com/world/france

L’Obs: This is a Paris based magazine that is updated weekly. It is only written and printed in French, but can be easily translated online. There are multiple different authors and it is unclear what way the magazine leans. It is one of the top magazines for political, cultural, and economics topics for France, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The information is very broad and has multiple different topics it covers (listed above). The strength is how many people read it, and how many copies are sold, as well as all of the areas the news covers. The weakness would be it is only written in French. I chose this source because of its popularity in multiple different countries. https://www.nouvelobs.com/

Social Media

Facebook: France’s leading social media platform is Facebook, and for this reason I think it is an important source to look at. The publishers themselves are everyday people who can share what they want about events happening in France. It can be updated whenever by anyone, and while this could be problematic, it could also allow others to see what it is like to live as a French citizen. Many social media platforms can be translated easily, so language barrier would not be an issue. I think the strengths and weaknesses are the same, the amount of people and free will, it could either be a good or bad thing. This can be found at facebook.com.

Btnewsroom: This is a Tiktok account that is based out of the U.S. It covers global news, especially things that aren’t covered in other daily news sources. Their goal is to be a nonpartisan news source that isn’t owned by the same companies as main news channels. They show real clips from real people, which is a pro to this account. The format is information based videos that are never too long to never make the viewer become disinterested. The source is updated daily on Tik tok. This source is only in English and can’t be translated, which is a con. The information on this source has a lot to do with big events happening in the world, whether political or social. I chose this source and it is a good source because of tik toks popularity as well as the source using everyday peoples videos to show the effects of real people’s lives. www.tiktok.com/btnewsroom

Louispisano: This is a twitter account run by a journalist named Louis out of Paris. This is a text and video based source. The source is updated every day and can be found online on twitter. While the source updates on events happening in Paris, there are other personal posts on the account, which could be a con. This source is only in English, but Twitter has a decent translator on the app. The strength and the reason I chose this source was because it can be updated at a moment’s notice. www.twitter.com/louispisano

Data

OECD Data: This is a site dedicated to promoting economic growth within multiple countries. This is a very useful source because it has data on almost anything you would need about the country ranging from personal income tax to information on health and wellness spending. The publishers come from within the government, and allow other governments and people to see stats about countries. This transparency is very helpful. This is a super useful resource is you want to know anything about France’s economy. I feel as if there is no weakness and it is a strong resource for data. The link can be found here https://data.oecd.org/france.htm

The World Bank: This is an information source that gives a lot of data on countries. The source is updated every year or so with new data. I am unaware of who owns it or where it is operated out of. This source gives information about the Economy of France such as GDP and inflation, etc. It also has information on the environment and institutions in the country. I chose this source because I think the information is very helpful to understand the economy in France. https://data.worldbank.org/country/france?view=chart

UN Data: For my last data source I wanted to choose the UN data source. It is run and operated by the UN by collecting data yearly about countries around the world and updating the data from previous years. From what I found it is offered in English and other languages. This source has information and data on things such as general information on France, economic data, social data which has a lot of interesting statistics, and environmental data. I don’t see any cons with this source. I chose it because of all the useful information it gives on France. https://data.un.org/en/iso/fr.html

Visual

France 24: This is one of the most popular news channels in France, and is available to watch on TV in France or stream from anywhere. It is offered in multiple languages, including english. It is a broadcast source that is said to be left-center leaning and unbiased. The source is a daily broadcast that covers daily national, regional, and international news. Strengths include the visual aspect and the ability to watch live, but downsides would be that they do cover pop culture or information that might not be important to research. A link can be found here. https://www.france24.com/en/

LCP: LCP is a French news channel dedicated to reporting on the inner workings of the French Senate. It has 24 hour live video of debates and questioning happening in the chamber. It is updated whenever there is anything happening with the French Senate. It is shown in French but it is possible to find English translations. The strengths is that there is no bias because it is just a livestream and a con would be that it may be hard to understand quickly without knowing French. I chose this source because I thought it was very interesting and is a fully unbiased source. https://lcp.fr/

Euronews: This news broadcast channel is based out of France, but covers all European news. The source is an every day news broadcast. It is shown in multiple different languages across many countries. The source is left leaning. The source has a lot of information on France, and keeps up with its recent news whether that’s political, social, cultural, or economic. A pro would be the wide coverage, but the origins start in France. It also can be listened to on the go and is also available for later watching on Youtube. I don’t see any immediate weaknesses. I chose this source because it is so accessible to anywhere across the globe and easily allows people to learn about French news. https://www.euronews.com/

Other

Tik Tok: For my other source I wanted to include another social media source because people, especially young people, spend a lot of time interacting with social media. While tik tok acts a lot like Facebook, it also is very different. It is a visual and short form of media that catches someone’s attention. While it has the same strengths and weaknesses as Facebook, being easily accessible and easily created media, it can also lead to false information. I think here you get many different perspectives and forms of knowledge about issues, culture, personal experiences etc. Social media is very powerful and useful for getting the word out in a situation. The link can be found at tiktok.com

Spotlight on France: I thought this was an interesting source to choose because it is a weekly podcast about France. It is done by two women, Sarah Elzas and Alison Hird. They talk about current events and culturally through analysis but in a casual way. The podcast is in English and it is not too long so it is very easily listened to. Their perspective is left leaning. A pro would be that it is a different type of information source that is by two women who live in France. A con would be that there is no transcript so there is no option to read instead of listen. I think this is good for people trying to learn because it is casual and it is information coming from locals. https://www.rfi.fr/en/podcasts/spotlight-france/#podcast-about

Franceinfo: This is a radio station that broadcasts French news. They also have a website where you can watch or listen at any time, with news stories as well. The source is updated everyday and is constantly talking about new stories and updating other ones. It is based out of France and is spoken in French. This source shows all types of news happening in France. A pro would be how easily information is pushed out, but a con is that there is a language barrier. This source is helpful for Learning about France because of its diversity in ways of learning. https://www.francetvinfo.fr/

Searching for the sources was both difficult and easy. While it is easy to find news sources because France is talked about a lot in the media, and almost all of them are easily translated into English, there are a lot of biased sources. I feel like this would come for any country and it definitely makes it difficult finding reliable sources good for learning real facts about a country with no outside influence. I learned that some news sources report on things very differently and it is important to keep an eye out for consistent details. For the next update I plan on diving a lot deeper and finding more local sources than international ones.