Cultural imperialism has gone out of fashion in France. Zealous French language watchdogs no longer persecute the propagators of words like "le weekend", "le parking" and "le fax". And allusions to "the gift of civilisation" are politically incorrect - the sort of thing the National Front talks about.
Yet despite all the protestations of good will towards other languages and cultures, a suspicion hangs over Mr Boutros-Boutros Ghali's Secretariat General de La Francophonie and one of its "operators", the international French language satellite network, TV5. They may deny it, but we Anglophones will never be totally convinced they don't believe French is better. No, the TV5 minions will tell you in the pistachio green and glass halls of their Paris headquarters, they have no cultural hang-ups. But if you want to see real arrogance, a bona fide superiority complex, they say, talk to their counterparts at the BBC.
"We have never been at war with the English or the English language," Patrick Imhaus, the president of TV5, insists. His channel receives half of its £44 million in annual funding from the French government; 20 per cent comes from the Belgian, Swiss and Canadian governments, and 30 per cent from cable operators. "Some of our politicians say they want a red, white and blue television channel, "the voice of France", but that's not how I conceive of television," Mr Imhaus continues. "If I try to get a cable company in Helsinki to broadcast "the voice of France", they laugh at me. But if I tell them about Paris Lumieres (TV5's daily programme on the capital's charms), they're interested. Our approach is marketing, not propaganda."
But data supplied by TV5 confirms its expansionist trend. In the eight years since Mr Imhaus took over, the network's staff and budget have more than doubled. It has gone from broadcasting 14 to 24 hours each day, and from 25 to 140 countries. "The BBC says it goes to 40 million homes," Mr Imhaus says. "CNN goes to 120 million. We can be seen in over 80 million homes, so we consider we are the third largest satellite TV network in the world, after CNN and MTV. That's in terms of potential - who is watching is another question."
Who is watching? TV5 lists its target audience as residents of French-speaking countries, French-speaking travellers and expatriates, teachers of French and Francophiles. There are a million French teachers around the world, and the network has devised a manual entitled Apprendre Et Enseigner Avec TV5 for them. Francophiles include 27 per cent of Italians, 16 per cent of English and Dutch, and 12 per cent of Germans who speak French.
So why isn't TV5 as well known as CNN? CNN is a specialist channel, while TV5 is a generalist station, Mr Imhaus says. Generalist indeed: its programmes include everything from the intellectual book programme Bouillon De Culture to cooking lessons, political debates, animal antics and inane game shows.
"I am not interested in competition between languages, but I believe there is a sort of human right to have television images in the language of one's choice," Mr Imhaus says. For that reason, he founded the Bruges group of 14 satellite TV stations, including BBC World, Deutsche Welle, and Spanish and Portuguese television stations. "Our goal was to have one satellite over Europe so that citizens could have all these languages 24 hours a day. We believe public television is a public service - I should have the right to watch RTE in Paris if I want to. Public service is a European concept, and the Canadians and NHK (Japanese television) have joined in. We think of the viewer as a citizen, not a consumer. In America he is above all a consumer."
There is just a hint of French snobbery in TV5's attitude towards money. "We don't have advertisers, we have sponsors," Mr Imhaus says. "Until a few months ago, we didn't want advertising - you have to pay more for film rights if you have advertising. Like all satellite companies, we find it very difficult to find advertisers - this is the case of CNN and Euronews too. Except for Coca-Cola and Sony, advertisers think in national, not international terms."
When the French government debates TV5 funding, it is often argued that if Africans, Indians and Asians watch French television, they will buy French products. But Mr Imhaus thinks the trade benefits are limited. "The affect on tourism is probably high," he says. "It also helps sell records, books and movies. But as for industrial production, the effect is tiny, and very hard to measure."
The map that hangs over Jerome Marchand's desk in TV5's department of development looks like a general's campaign chart, with multi-coloured drawing pins showing TV5 lobbyists in cities as far-flung as Dublin (Noel Canty), Istanbul, Bucharest, Sofia, Prague and Warsaw. Mr Marchand is about to depart for Moscow and Kiev, where TV5 already reaches 50,000 homes through cable. Although TV5 can be seen with a satellite dish anywhere in the world, hassle-free cable subscriptions still account for 80 per cent of its viewers, and cable operators are the ones they must convince to buy their product. Mr Marchand believes TV5 will guarantee the survival of the French language. "There are French speakers in 120 countries," he explains. "French is not a dead language. But we need to work with a living medium like television."
TV5 was created 15 years ago by five channels, the three French networks, Belgian and Swiss TV - hence its name. The French Canadians and several French-speaking African countries joined later. To this day, 50 per cent of TV5's programming comes from France 2 and France 3, the two government-owned stations. A quarter comes from Belgian, Swiss and Canadian television - whose news broadcasts are shown daily - and a small amount from Africa. The remainder is produced by TV5.
Because audience tastes vary, TV5 is trying to regionalise its programming. "Asians are more interested in news," Mr Imhaus says. "In Europe and Africa they want more games and variety programmes." When the network changed its logo and packaging in February it also launched a monthly film festival, presented every Thursday night by the French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier.
March was Gerard Depardieu month. Throughout April the network pays homage to the great French director, Jean Renoir. May will be devoted to the Cannes film festival, and June is Isabelle Huppert's month. TV5 executives realised their American audience was chiefly interested in French cinema, so Americans receive three to four films a week, compared to two or three shown in Europe.