While neither Le Monde nor The Huffington Post directly announced the appointment of Ms. Sinclair, a well-known TV journalist in France, they sent out a notice Wednesday inviting reporters to the introduction of ‘‘Le Huffington Post’’ on Monday.
The invitation was signed by several executives, including Arianna Huffington, the founder of the site, and named Ms. Sinclair as ‘‘editorial director.’’
‘‘I am very happy to resume my career, amid the euphoria of taking part in something new,’’ Ms. Sinclair said in an interview with the French edition of Elle magazine that was posted on its Web site Wednesday. ‘‘I think I still have something to bring to the profession.’’
The choice of Ms. Sinclair, which has been the subject of speculation in the French press for several weeks, will bring immediate attention to the new site, but also carries potential risks.
Ms. Sinclair has been in the limelight for other reasons lately, as she stood by her husband’s side when he faced charges, later dropped, that he had sexually assaulted a chambermaid in a New York hotel last year.
Those charges prompted Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s resignation from the I.M.F. and dashed his hopes of being named the Socialist candidate for the presidential election this spring, when President Nicolas Sarkozy is widely expected to seek a second term.
Some French critics have questioned whether Ms. Sinclair could remain an objective journalist at a time when her husband and their relationship has become a continuing story. In November, the couple filed lawsuits against several French newspapers over their coverage of a new sex scandal, in which Mr. Strauss-Kahn has been drawn into an investigation of an alleged international prostitution ring centered on the city of Lille. Mr. Strauss-Kahn has denounced what he called a ‘‘media lynching.’’
Ms. Sinclair, a wealthy heiress, was the host of a popular television interview program during the 1980s and ’90s. She gave up that job in 1997 when Mr. Strauss-Kahn was named finance minister of France.
The new version of The Huffington Post will enter a busy market for online journalism in France, where sites like Mediapart, Rue89, the French edition of Slate and others have gained a reputation for aggressive news coverage and attracted significant audiences.
Some of these sites have struggled to attract advertising in France, where online spending is lower than in the United States and Britain.
The new site is a joint venture of AOL, the Internet company that owns The Huffington Post; Le Monde; and Matthieu Pigasse, a banker who acquired Le Monde in 2010 in partnership with two other investors.
The French version of The Huffington Post is not the first foray outside the United States for the site. A British version of The Huffington Post, which aggregates news, opinion articles and blogs from its own journalists and outside sources, was started last year.
There is also a version for Canada, with an edition for the French-speaking part of the country also in the works.
The site has also announced plans for a Spanish edition, in partnership with Grupo Prisa, publisher of the newspaper El País.
In the interview with Elle, Ms. Sinclair fired back at critics who have questioned her continuing support for her husband, after he admitted to a liaison with the chambermaid, which he insisted was consensual.
‘‘I am neither a saint nor a victim,’’ she said. ‘‘I am a free woman.’’
‘‘Unconditional support does not exist,’’ she added. ‘‘One supports if one has decided to support. Nobody knows what happens in a private relationship, and I deny anyone the right to judge mine. I am comfortable with my decisions, my actions, I made them independently.’’
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0eabb1811956f5b426180e0b7479f6a1
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