On December 6, the newest international news channel in a crowded market including CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera’s new English channel is going on the air, first via Internet streaming and one day later by satellite. This channel is France 24; adding to the voices from the US, the UK, and Arabia, a voice from France.

Interestingly, the aim of this channel is to counteract the “unified, Anglo-Saxon” outlook of the U.S. and Britain, especially after the controversy over the Iraq war. To reach the maximum audience and “influence the world”, France has put aside its linguistic qualms, and will be broadcast via satellite and the Internet in English as well as French and, soon, Arabic followed by Spanish.

I really like to think that we’re approaching a media revolution, a world of information anarchy, and the internet is certainly a very, very, very big part this revolution. It realizes that network effects should come from communities and user contributions- connecting intelligence, turning the web into a kind of giant global brain.

On one hand, sites such as Wikipedia, Flickr, and and Digg rely on information from users to provide content rather than from centralized sources. On the other hand, blogging, podcasting, and photosharing are changing the way information flows, and many see blogging as a means of “getting around the filter”, offering views of politics, entertainment, and culture that were never available so openly before.

The influence of blogs is increasing by the day. In a study conducted by StrategyOne, it was discovered that nearly a quarter of the population in the U.S., UK, and France, read blogs at least once a week (and of that group nearly one-third are moved to undertake some type of political action). Similarly, according to The Economist, news channels are more about influence than money.

Today, the mass media is tapping into alternative media. The approach of France 24 with the net and the blogosphere are interesting. In a video published yesterday, the channel makes bloggers its first audience, addressing the video, “France 24′s Promise to Bloggers” to them (you can watch it here). They are broadcasting on the internet thirty six hours before satellites in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Back to the French government’s intention, which is to use the new broadcaster as a platform to spread “the French vision”, counter the prevailing US view of world affairs, particularly in Africa and the Middle East. In the case of Iraq, it’s easy to understand what the French vision would mean — more distance from the U.S. military line, and many French viewers see U.S. news as too uncritical of Israel. The channel also described itself as “a diversity of viewpoints, more debate, and an emphasis on culture and “l’art de vivre,” the art of living.” Many criticisms (especially by Arab critics) hailing the channel as “French imperialism in disguise” were quickly dispelled, “It’s not anti-American or against the Arab world, or anything like that at all. It’s just a different point of view.”

News about this channel sparked a conversation about French influence on our lives in Jordan between my mother and I (and here, I am not referring to all of Jordan, I am referring to myself). The language barrier in a country that uses English as a second language is huge, but being a part of the Levant which has had a lot of French influence naturally means that you can still see the traces, especially in language. I know that a good portion of our local lingo is actually Arabized French, such as garcon, bantalon, antreh, dosh, twalette, chufeir, telefone, and as my mother says, “Alo” by itself is worth a hundred words. When in the older parts of Amman, it is notable that many of the signs mounted over store fronts are in Arabic and French rather than English.

What I find most interesting in regards to French influence on modern Amman is on the cultural front. The French Cultural Center is quite an active participant in the local scene with their funding and supporting of cultural events in Amman, both French and local. Amman now celebrates “Eid Il Moseeqa” on June 21st with France’s Fête de la Musique. Most amusingly, the “Frenchizing” of Jabal il Weibdeh, where Dowar Il Hawooz was magically re-named and re-decorated to become Square de Paris. Across from the Square de Paris lies another new addition to Weibdeh, “Librarie de Paris”, a cafe/bookshop with French and Italian books. A round the corner from Librarie is the renovated French Cultural Center, painted in bright attractive colors.

Personally, after a childhood in a very global Saudi Arabia, I have come to like the French, who are a lot warmer and friendlier than the English, and who I can relate to on a cultural level a lot more than the Americans, although I grew up with Americans, the exporters of culture.

My mother and I also discussed Radio Monte Carlo, which was very popular in the Arab world before the privatization of Arab media, but which didn’t have a speck of influence on its audience, nor did even try. Obviously, the objective of France 24 is different, but I guess only time can tell. It would be interesting to see what a French news channel with such a will say, which viewpoints it will represent, and whether or not it will have any influence on its viewers.

What do you think?