The French are not particularly known for competitiveness or speed. The drive to be number one at all costs is most often associated with those pushy, overambitious Americans. That is what makes it remarkable that the much-awaited story of the birth of twins in Nice, France to Hollywood superstars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt was not first trumpeted to the world by the US magazines, TV reporters, tabloids and paparazzi who had been lying in wait there, but by a regional French newspaper, Nice-Matin. Nice-Matin broke the story when it published news of the births on its Web site at 2 a.m. Sunday, July 13, four hours before even its own print version hit the newsstands.
As the major daily newspaper for the French Riviera, Nice-Matin , with a circulation of 280,000, has always made celebrities a big part of its coverage. Many stars from France, the US and elsewhere have second homes in the South of France, making celebrity-sightings almost as commonplace as in Hollywood, and stars are on holiday, so their guard is naturally lower. This summer's stories in the French paper so far have featured photos of Naomi Campbell walking along the beach, Jerry Hallin St. Tropez and Faye Dunaway preparing for production of a biopic about Maria Callas. But the French newspaper, while covering celebrities, is remarkable in being well-known for respecting their privacy. This is why Nice-Matin often gets much better access than anyone else. The storm of coverage surrounding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as they prepared for the birth of their twins is exactly what Nice-Matin strives to avoid and shield their subject from.
On Monday, the paper featured a Page One picture taken by its own photographer of Pitt beside obstetrician Michel Sussmann, Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi and the Lenval hospital director, Bernard Lecat.
All of which left InTouch Magazine, the TV show Entertainment Tonight, and all the other US press scooped and out in the cold on a huge story involving their own countrymen. Perhaps they, and celebrity-stalkers everywhere- should take a page from the newsprint of the polite and respectful Nice-Matin.
So far, that is as close as the paper has come to the Jolie-Pitt family. But Nice-Matin will remain on the Brangelina story — with hopes of yet more scoops to come. It has already reported that an unnamed U.S. publication has paid $11 million for exclusive rights to the first photo of the newly expanded Jolie-Pitt family, and that the proceeds will go to charity.
Once that deal is executed, Nice-Matin hopes to get a shot of the twins and their parents.
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