Chabot replaces shamed France 2 news chief

PARIS, Feb 23 (AFP) – French state-run television network France 2 said it had named a replacement for a news executive who resigned this month following a prime-time blunder during the nightly bulletin.

Arlette Chabot, a 52-year-old journalist with a long career in radio and television who already held a senior editorial post at the channel, was given the job of deputy managing director for information.

She takes over responsibilities from Olivier Mazerolle, who resigned February 10, a week after putting to air information that Alain Juppe, a former prime minister and close ally of President Jacques Chirac, was quitting politics after being found guilty of illegal party funding.

The news went out at the same time as Juppe was giving an exclusive interview to commercial rival TF1 in which he insisted he would stay on as head of Chirac’s party, as MP, and as mayor of Bordeaux while fighting the conviction on appeal.

France 2’s newsroom voted a no-confidence motion against Mazerolle, whom they accused of jettisoning journalistic standards in an effort to catch up in the ratings with TF1.

Chabot has a solid grounding in political reporting, not only for France 2 but also for a radio station, Europe 1.

Subject: France news