For the moment, they don't. I hope this will last forever.
We have a TV channel here called Canal + [it belongs to Vivendi-Universal and possesses many channels in many european countries]
This channel has got a TV show for more than 15 years, called "Les Guignols de l'info". It consist in puppets hosting the News and making fun of it... When I was younger, I used to like this show; I don't any more, because the jokes are becoming more and more stupid and when a joke works well, they repeat it for days.
Even though some people may disagree with that, the fact is that this program and the way it shows politicians,etc influences the way people think about the real politician,etc.
Thus Jacques Chirac has become last year "Super Liar",etc
It was this show that made fun out of Alesi by picturing him as a silly, bad driver person. Every time he appeares, he had to say "Muret,gravier" (that was supposed to mean that he was bound to not finishing the race by going out of the track and hitting something
Here is some stuff about the show http://www.ifrance.com/aubonsketch/guignolsinfos.htm