Spiegel Online:
On Thursday, the newspaper L’Express published the original, untouched photo as well as the retouched Paris Match version. The original shows Sarko’s poignees d’amour spilling out of his swim trunks. The mag justified the touchup by saying Sarkozy’s awkward position in the boat made the bulge look bigger than it was.
But critics will note that Paris Match belongs to the Lagardere media empire, whose owner Arnaud Lagardere is a close friend of Sarkozy. If you’re an editor at a Lagardere publication, critical coverage of Sarkozy might cost you your job. Two years ago, after Cecelia Sarkozy temporarily separated from Nicolas Sarkozy, Lagardere sacked Paris Match’s editor (more…) after he published a photo of her with her new beau on the cover.