From Luxembourg, Monaco, Andorra and the Saar, powerful radio transmitters beam across the border into France. Their presence infuriates the French government, which, except for those uncontrollable transmitters, hogs the country's air. But Frenchmen by the grateful millions tune in to the foreign wave lengths. It is the only way that they can listen to something their own government-owned network almost never sends: an undoctored dose of news.
Half a Minute. Newcasts over Radiodiffusion Télévision Française, the government monopoly, have long been regarded with Gallic cynicism. "We are given slanted, incomplete or false news," said...