The World: Insider's View - France.(Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy contesting for presidential elections in France)

The presidential candidate Segolene Royal has embraced the new-media revolution to fight an entirely new kind of campaign, Bruno Walther says.

The upcoming presidential elections in France will mark the end of Jacques Chirac's long domination of national politics. The debate now lies between Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy on the left and right respectively.

In appearance, they represent opposing passions, conviction and conflict but, in reality, both are socially more conservative and economically more liberal than Chirac. Their fundamental views of society are very similar, but they communicate it in radically different ways.

While Sarkozy organises huge meetings with rock concerts, massive platforms and balloons, Royal prefers more convivial occasions, where she sits in the middle of a room listening to people express themselves and summarising their concerns at the end. Where Sarkozy buys thousands of key words on Google, and sends millions of e-mails, Royal emphasises participation on her website, allowing voters to express themselves rather than be on the receiving end of other people's campaign material While Sarkozy deploys a structured, comprehensive and closely argued electoral manifesto, Royal has opted for a Wikipedia-type website, where she invites supporters to contribute their own ideas.

Sarkozy's press conferences are precise to a fault. By contrast, Royal has invented the 'participative' press conference, often responding to journalists' questions by asking them ...