Did magazine hide Sarkozy's ‘love handles?’

[NJCher]

Did magazine hide Sarkozy's ‘love handles?’
Report says image altered by publication close to the French president
French President Nicolas Sarkozy paddles a canoe on Lake Winnipesaukee while on vacation in Wolfeboro
Neal Hamberg / Reuters
President Nicolas Sarkozy paddles a canoe on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire on Aug. 4. This is one of the unaltered photos taken by a Reuters photographer.

PARIS - A popular magazine owned by a close friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy doctored a photograph of the French leader to make his waist look thinner, a rival publication reported on Thursday.

The weekly news magazine L'Express said Paris Match, owned by businessman Arnaud Lagardere, had applied a "magic wand" to the photograph of Sarkozy paddling in a canoe to remove the bulges around his waist that are often known as "love handles."

A presidential spokesman said Sarkozy had not asked for the alteration. But the story highlights charges that the president has enjoyed favorable treatment from some parts of the media because of his ties to wealthy and influential businessmen.

See pic at link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20406786/



Cher

[Buzz Clik]

1. For the love of God. We desperately need a Tabloid Forum

[zanne]

2. I don't care about his abs.

I no longer care about anybody's abs, glutes, deltoids, pecs or meatos (I just made that one up.)

[Buzz Clik]

3. "Who's the Hunkiest Leader in the Free World?"

[NJCher]

4. No. It's about photo manipulation and image making

This is an issue where a magazine owned by a friend took it upon themselves to remove the love handles.

BTW, on the BBC version, the magazine is saying that it wasn't Photoshop manipulation. They're saying that when they adjusted the photo to size for the publication, the love handles disappeared.

Something rotten in Denmark, I mean France.

In addition, if you read the rest of the story, you will see that other publications have adopted a very "friendly" stance toward Sarkozy--including one situation we here at DU would have considered critical. His own wife did not vote for him! And the press wouldn't talk about it

This story is more than fluff. It appears that France is certainly not immune to r-w capitalist types being treated gently, just like here and what happened with bush.



Cher