Murder of British family and French cyclist seen by Gallic press as small story despite hitting front pages in UK newspapers

By Kim Willsher in Paris, guardian.co.uk, September 9, 2012

For the French press, the murder of a British family and a French cyclist on the edge of an Alpine forest was what is known as a "fait divers", a term mostly used to describe a trivial miscellaneous news item.

Reports of the multiple killing emerged well in time for newspaper deadlines on both sides of the Channel. – despite France being one hour ahead of the UK – However, it made front-page headlines on Thursday only in Britain [....]

"The English Press Goes Wild", wrote Aujourd'hui in an article inside [....]

The French viewed the descent en masse of Her Majesty's press on Chevaline and Annecy with incredulity that, as the days passed, turned into a mix of astonishment and admiration [....]