Nicolas Sarkozy and Franz-Olivier Giesbert

An amusing story in today's Telegraph recounts how the above-mentioned journalist described President Sarkozy's then fiancée, Carla Bruni, as a maneater, advising him not to introduce her to either his sons or any handsome men in a new book to be published soon. Sarkozy didn't take it too well, replying that he should 'smash his face in' and wondering what was 'holding him back', remarking to Giesbert that he probably wouldn't appreciate it if somebody described his wife as a whore who might well bonk his children before running off with the (handsome) milkman, type of thing. The rest of the article is less sensational; Giesbert goes on to describe Mr. Sarkozy as a man of 'great culture' blah blah blah. I suppose this passes for news, but seeing as Giesbert works for French weekly Le Point he's probably just benefitting from a little product placement in a colleague's publication. After all, this article, which made the online front page of one of our quality dailies, recounts a playground exchange between two grown men that happened in a foreign country four years ago. How many other more deserving news stories could have occupied that space this morning? How many shocking tales of incompetence on the part of the Social Services yet again go unreported in this global quest for inoffensive, soft 'news'? What can we do about it?