Christine Ockrent

Nicknamed "La Reine", Christine Ockrent is regarded as one of France's most respected broadcasters, the only journalist granted an interview with Saddam Hussein in the middle of the Gulf War. As well as becoming the first woman to anchor and edit the prime time news, Christine has also edited the current affairs journal L'Express, worked as the deputy director-general of France's TF1 channel and presented the country's flagship magazine and arts show, France-Europe Express.

"It's become an everyday dimension for my work and for any specific news that I may have when I travel. I don't gaze and go from one place to the other according to hazard, although I'm sure it's fun!"

"When you have specific needs, and the more specific they are the more useful the Internet is, then I find it irreplaceable. I even wonder at times how we were doing before the Internet."

The Times of London - a profile accused Ockrent of being a tough character and 'an ice cube.' "The nice thing about ice cubes is that they can melt!... I felt, having been professionally raised in America, that I was doing a serious job and therefore I didn't have to smile talking about war, for instance. The stereotypes are such that a woman who doesn't smile - that's terrible, it means she's abnormal. I kept not smiling because I didn't feel like smiling and talking about wars. I think that's what gave me that reputation of being 'an ice cube', and I was just being serious about my job. That was 20 years ago!"

Reporters Sans Frontières - "I've been on the board for years. We try and protect journalists when they are in trouble or in jail: We pay for lawyers, we protest, we try to stir up public opinion. People all over the world can connect. We have a network of correspondents... It's a useful extension of our work."

European Parliament - "It's the great adventure. We, as Europeans... it's only together that we can have a major influence on world affairs and on world values. That's why it's important to vote for European elections, and that's why it's important to know what's happening in Brussels."