Cablegate: Tv Coop Highlights French Gospel Singer in the United

VZCZCXRO3326
RR RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHFR #4634 3381654
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041654Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1362
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1932
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0513

UNCLAS PARIS 004634

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/WE, R, PA/OBS/BE, PA/PBS, IIP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KPAO SCUL FR
SUBJECT: TV COOP HIGHLIGHTS FRENCH GOSPEL SINGER IN THE UNITED
STATES

REF: 06 PARIS 7510

Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) Based on a proposal from APP Lille and with funding from
PA, regional television affiliate France 3 Nord-Picardie produced a
twenty-six minute magazine feature on Sabrina Adel, a young musician
of Muslim origin whose lifelong dream was to study American gospel
music in the U.S. France 3 ran the full story to an audience of
56,000 viewers on June 16. The station also ran a shorter,
five-minute version on June 26. End Summary.

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BACKGROUND
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2. (SBU) Sabrina Adel is a young musician of Algerian origin who
hails from one of northern France's toughest inner-city
neighborhoods. Clearly talented and highly motivated, Adel had
already begun to make a name for herself on the French gospel
circuit before she came to the attention of APP Lille. She lacked
formal musical training, however, and her life's ambition was to
study gospel music at the source, in the United States. She applied
to Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music and was accepted.
With the help of supporters from around Lille, she then created an
association to raise the money for her studies. She started classes
in Fall 2006.

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A GOOD STORY ALMOST SELLS ITSELF
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3. (SBU) APP Lille followed Adel's progress closely and suggested to
France 3 Nord-Picardie (the northern regional affiliate of the
national French television station) that Adel's story might make a
wonderful human interest story for its viewers. Producers at France
3 were intrigued with the idea, but balked at the high costs and
logistical hurdles involved in sending a team to the United States.
PA then stepped in with timely co-op financing and a local U.S.
producer, which was enough to close the deal.

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A FINAL PRODUCT WITH SOUL
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4. (SBU) France 3 reporter Setti Dali, herself of North African
origin, was assigned to cover the story. She and her team spent
three days in Boston watching Adel struggle with sightreading and
music theory, deepen her friendships with her roommates, and rock
out on stage with Berklee's gospel choir. APP Lille collaborated
closely with Dali on the project and its production, even helping
her with translation of some of the more colloquial English of
Adel's American schoolmates.

5. (U) The final story was a twenty-six minute TV magazine piece
that ran on France 3 on June 16. According to France 3 producers,
viewership for the piece was approximately 56,000, considered a
solid result for a local affiliate. France 3 subsequently aired a
five minute condensed version on June 26.

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COMMENT
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6. (SBU) This is exactly the sort of story we want out there: a
young French girl of Arab origin is able to achieve artistic success
by following her dreams to the United States. The subject comes
across as sympathetic and very pro-American, the story highlights
American culture, and the piece encourages studies in the United
States. The coverage would not have been possible without the
enthusiastic, and very flexible, support of PA.
STAPLETON

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