Political podcasting: Sarkozy and Obama

Nicolas Sarkozy is the French Minister of Interior. Many see him as the possible future President of France. He's also, media-wise, the most aggressive French politician. So when the other day he gave an exclusive interview to blogger (and SixApart European VP) Loic Le Meur, that didn't come as a total surprise. Le Meur turned the thirty-minutes discussion (about blogs, Sarkozy's politics, the recent riots in the "banlieues", and more) into an audio and video podcast (both in French, there is also a transcript). "It is the first time ever in France that a politician of this rank is podcasted", says Le Meur. Probably even in Europe. But it's not the first time worldwide: Illinois Democratic Senator Barack Obama, another politician touted as possible US presidential ticket material, is also releasing speeches and other materials through iTunes (you need iTunes to open this link). During the interview, entrepreneur and blogger Le Meur presented Sarkozy with an iPod "so that he could understand the devices that will carry the interview". French journalists criticized him for that and for not having asked tougher questions. To which Le Meur replies: "this is my blog, not a newspaper".