The Absence of the French Election in the North American Anglo Media

I find it very interesting that so little attention has been devoted to the French election on major english-speaking television stations in North America. Not knowing much about French politics, I've recently been interested in learning about the candidates, the context and the stakes of France's recent Presidential election (the first round results are just in now, and there will be a runoff between right-wing Sarkozy [~30%] and left-center Royal [~25%]). Elections are usually a fairly hot topic, but aside from french-language TV5, I found that few stations gave any coverage to the election in the lead-up to it, and now that the results are in, even less time to reporting the preliminaries. The print media, over time, has noted the importance of this election as "usher[ing] in a new generation of politicl leaders" (Reuters), and indeed initial estimates place the voter turnout at around 84%, one of the highest in half a century. Thus, it is not for lack of significance that coverage is so limited.
One might shrug off this TV snub as just bad timing: the VT massacre still dominates the American press, the Nigerian election has more "shock" value that falls in line with the television format, Earth Day has global appeal, etc. Somehow, I'm tempted to think otherwise.
It's well-known that France is treated with contempt by the Anglo press - beyond the obvious language difference, viewed as hostile to the obssession with linguistic supremacy of many English-speaking countries, their distinct brand of corporatism is dangerous to the liberal traditions of most English-speaking countries. Even in Canada, which supposedly bucks both of these trends, almost no english coverage on the election has been available. It is symbolic, though certainly (hopefully) coincidental, that CBC: Our World did an hour-long look at the cult of James Bond, exploring the linkages between British and North America reactions to Flemming's books and movies (CBC Newsworld, 6-7pm EST) even while analysts in France worked to untangle what these historic results mean for the future of a major force in the European Union, the world economy, and global governance. Doubtless the French election, whatever the final outcome, will have important consequences for Canada and the United States.
Although the prospects of left nationalism (Royal) is an improvement to right-nationalism (Sarkozy), to me it is only a marginal improvement. It is unclear to what extent Royal, if elected, will live up to her socialist credentials. As an admirer of Tony Blair earlier in her career, I have no clue on which "road" or "way" she ultimately will attempt to take France. Yet "Parti Socialiste", despite the uncertaintly of how that title will translate into policy, undoubtedly raises too many eyebrows for the media-capital-state fusion working hard at the ol' "smash and grab".
Not to say, of course, that the same is not happening in France. Still, a country in which nearly 10% of the 2002 vote went to self-described Trotskyists, and where nearly 5% of the vote this time around went to the "Revolutionary Communist League", is one that is perhaps a little too controversial for North America, where the active elite political project of making an alternative to capitalism unthinkable operates in perpetual and full force. After all, so the saying goes, any publicity is good publicity.

-Matt