Can France's Journalist-Turned-First Lady Avoid Conflicts of Interest?

Valérie Trierweiler, partner of Francois Hollande, France's new president, has decided to keep her job but switch from reporting on politics to writing art and book reviews to avoid a conflict of interest. But people still think she could have too much clout even as a critic.

Valérie Trierweiler, partner of Francois Hollande, France's new president, has decided to keep her job but switch from reporting on politics to writing art and book reviews to avoid a conflict of interest. But people still think she could have too much clout even as a critic.

"When you decide to be with a politician or with a journalist, you know what it involves," Jean Quatremer, a journalist at France's Liberaton paper told The New York Times' Maia de la Baume. "We tend to forget that the French president is a king... And the state is largely involved in culture." Others piled on, saying that there's a possibility that Trierweiler's review of a piece of art would cause monumental shifts like museums bending to accommodate her and please the president

We think that kind of sells the art world a bit short, don't you? It's not like the Met Opera is rushing out to book Beyoncé because of Michelle Obama's girl crush on her. And thankfully,  Trierweiler isn't shrinking away from the controversy. "A journalist First Lady is nothing new," Valerie Trierweiler writes in her first review referring to an Eleanor Roosevelt biography. "Naturally, you need to look across the Atlantic to discover this unique case, instead of crying scandal."