Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: French TV takes look at 'American malaise' Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 15:45:13 EST Message-ID: \SE A \SS (WS) \HD French TV takes look at 'American malaise' \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT CHARLOTTE, N.C. CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Against a backdrop of Charlotte's skyline, with a used-car lot in the foreground, Henri Sannier looked into a TV camera and invited his viewers on a trip around "une ville Americaine moyenne." Translation: an average American city. Mr. Sannier is a news anchorman on one of France's big three television networks, France 2. On Tuesday, his noontime viewers in France, Belgium and North Africa will be treated to a 25-minute "postcard" from Charlotte. The assignment, said special correspondent Jerome Bony, was "to make an impressionistic picture of the American malaise" on the country's Election Day. "We wanted to go deep into America to understand better American society and how it might slip from Republican to Democrat," he said. On Saturday, they cruised the streets of Charlotte, scouting backdrops for Mr. Sannier's stand-up intros - "un stand-up," en Franglais. They chose a view where uptown's gloss fades into old factories. Mr. Sannier explained that "America has never been more powerful, or more traumatized." Later, standing downtown, he spoke of "crise economique." And at Carolinas Medical Center, he introduced a report on America's health care crisis. "This is one of the best, most modern hospitals, but it's not for everyone," Mr. Sannier commented. "America is not like France, where everyone has national health insurance. Here, 37 million Americans are uninsured." Later, they visited the Earle Village public housing complex, where Edward Terry and James Brice happened to be sitting in their 1972 truck. Mr. Sannier gave them $20 to hang around a few minutes so he could stand in front of the battered pickup and talk about the "optimism that has disappeared from America." This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM