Paris
France broke a racial barrier this week when a black man anchored the prime-time news on the main commercial television channel. Harry Roselmack is filling in for channel TF1’s regular anchor, who’s on vacation until the end of August. French newspapers treated the event as a major milestone, describing Roselmack as “gorgeous,” “talented,” and “full-lipped, with the face of a pharaoh.” Smaller French channels have used black anchors in the past, but only during non-prime-time newscasts. TF1’s 8 p.m. newscast draws 9 million viewers every night, nearly half of the French viewing public. Roselmack tried to downplay the hoopla. “When I do interviews, I am neither black nor white, neither man nor woman,” he told Le Figaro. “I am a journalist.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Quiz of The Week: 21 – 27 JuneHave you been paying attention to The Week's news?
-
The Week Unwrapped: How do you turn plastics into paracetamol?Podcast Plus, what is the Wagner Group doing now? And why is it so hard to find a job after university?
-
The week's best photosIn Pictures A daring leap, a plastic protest, and more
