A passing reflection on the difference between British and French journalism. In France one of the stories of the week has been the return of the asbestos-laden decommissioned aircraft-carrier the Clemenceau from India to Brest. You may recall that it is proving impossible to break the ship up because of the pollution question. My point is this. French journalists persist in calling it the "ex-Clemenceau". This is because the ministry of defence has ruled that the ship is no longer part of the fleet and so is technically an ex-ship. But that's what the government says: it doesn't mean journalists have to follow suit. To any normal human being the 300,000 tonnes of rusting metal and asbestos lying off Brest is the Clemenceau tout-court. Calling it the ex-Clemenceau just sounds ridiculous. But that's French journalism for you -- top down, not bottom up. While I am at it, let me take the opportunity for another blow at my journalistic pet hate, Liberation newspaper. Its use of photographs I have heared praised, but for me -- like just about everything else in the paper -- they are shockingly predictable. One of their stand-bys is the "press conference". Press conferences are notorious for producing the most tedious pictures in the business, but every day you can be fairly sure Liberation will include at least one shot of a group of earnest soixante-huitards listening to someone droning on from behind a formica table. Today (Friday May 19) they have the extraordinary daring to put the press confernce picture on the front page. And they wonder why their figures are in free fall.