Football through the media in France and Germany.

Football through the media in France and Germany.

The French and German press are relatively similar when it comes to football. However it is not very interesting to look and analyse how each country writes and talks about its national team.

The French are very critical of their representatives whether for politics, cinema or in the field. When sportsmen and sportswomen perform well, the French press is lenient and grateful, but if there are counter-performances, journalists know how to be critical and hostile to the image of sportsmen and sportswomen to a certain extent, of course.

For France, we can take as an example the case of Karim Benzema who is performing well with his club (Real Madrid) is flattered by journalists. But in view of his stories and extra-sports polemics, Benzema is more than controversial in the public opinion and that of the Press when it comes to the French Team.

I don't follow German newspapers, but I don't remember a similar case in Germany. I think that German sports journalists focus exclusively on the sports aspect of the players of the Mannschaft. The analyses of German journalists show a pragmatism that is just as present in the mentality of the German population.

There is a third aspect, when a foreign press or media publish content on foreign athletes. In this case, journalists generally display a neutral judgement and are content to broadcast the opinion of the press in the country under debate. Sometimes journalists may question the opinions of their foreign peers, as in the Benzema case mentioned above.  For example, the Spanish press, which sees Benzema playing in the Spanish league and which does not understand, at least does not agree with the decisions taken against the French player.

So I'll compare:

How does the French Press write and publish about La Mannschaft?

How are Les Bleus represented by the German Press?

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I chose to take articles from leading newspapers in each country:

• Le Monde pour la France is the most well-known newspaper read by the French.

• Spiegel and SportBild for Germany were two newspapers I knew and I chose them because reading them was easier than other newspapers.

I chose these newspapers because they have a neutral and general opinion.

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Le Monde is a French newspaper founded by Hubert Beuve-Méry in 1944. It is the most widely read paid national daily newspaper in France (2. 42 million readers in 2016), but second in number of copies sold. It was the most widely circulated newspaper abroad until the 2000s. Its editorial line is presented as centre-left, but the paper calls itself neutral. However,

These readers are oriented to the left.

Der Spiegel (literally "The Mirror") is Germany's largest and most influential weekly investigative magazine, founded by Rudolf Augstein in 1946-1947. Spiegel is rapidly becoming the most viewed online magazine in Germany with about 90 million visitors per month.

Sport Bild is a German sports magazine. With 299,857 copies sold each week in 2018, it is the most widely distributed sports magazine in Europe. The editorial office is located in Hamburg. The sports magazine is printed in Nuremberg.

World 2014: Berlin explodes with joy:

This article from Le Monde tells the story of the German national team's victory. It was published under the edition World Brazil 2014, the article is not very rich in content, but it tells the event in an original way. Indeed, it is not common to see an article written like this. It was by defeating Messi's Argentina that the German players were crowned champions after flying over the competition and after the crushing victory over Brazil and their star Neymar (7-1).

First, the author describes the situation, explaining that the streets of Berlin are filled with supporters celebrating the victory of their team of hearts. Then we can read the feelings and testimonies of several people: thirty-somethings and young supporters. Despite the difference in sporting experience, the joy is shared.

The author writes in a neutral way and simply describes the event, the aim is to share information and convey the joy of the German people.

The French generally reacted well to the victory of their German neighbours, despite some resentment after France's elimination in the quarter-finals. [pic 5]

World Cup 2018: the curse of the title holders stronger than Germany:

The World offers some on the World Cup frequently during and after each World Championship. The format used is often short, and therefore pleasant to read.

The subject of this article is the famous and famous football fan "curse of the world champions", in fact since the beginning of the 21st century all the reigning world champions have been eliminated in the group phase to the next world champions.

And Germany has not departed from the rule, as has France in 2002, Spain in 2014 or Italy in 2010. Once again the author only explains the situation and does not take part in the debate, so he only describes and tells the facts.

The article begins with a quote from German coach Joachim Löw, who before the start of the competition announced break the so-called curse of champions. But that was not conclusive because the Mannshchaft was eliminated following the defeat against South Korea. This elimination was a bad experience for the German fans who were expecting a lot from their sports representatives. [pic 6]

France wins the 2018 World Cup: twenty years later, Les Bleus again on the roof of the world:

To compare the French press's approach to the two national selections, here is an article from Le Monde about Les Bleus' victory at the 2018 World Cup.

This time, the article is more detailed, it is organized in several parts, 5 in total. The article begins with an introduction that presents the context and summarizes the results of the French Team over the past 20 years. After this introduction, the journalist returns to the Euro 2016 which was a disillusionment for the French. He argued by recalling historical facts and illustrating his words with the reactions of players and that of the French coach after the final whistle.

The second part begins with praise for the young prodigy Killian MBappé, who was the rising star of this world champion, voted best young player of the competition. Moreover, the author praises the defensive solidity of this young and efficient collective. He insists on the fact that the victory was collective, and not the addition of strong individualities.

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