Covid-19: Behind the Scenes of Government Communication

Audio 02:41

President Emmanuel Macron and his Prime Minister Jean Castex, July 14, 2020. Ludovic Marin / Pool via REUTERS

By: Valérie Gas Follow

6 min

The Covid-19 epidemic is progressing rapidly again in France.

Large metropolises have moved into heightened alert zones.

The bars had to close their doors, but not the restaurants.

And the government is struggling, it is having a hard time getting people to understand its management of the health crisis.

Communication has, as it were, failures.

Publicity

Ministers are aware of this.

One of them recently confided to us: “ 

 ”.

One way to concede that in terms of communication on Covid-19, there is a great room for improvement because it is clear that there has been no "Castex" effect in this area, who before his appointment to Matignon was however the "Mr. deconfinement" of Emmanuel Macron.

He can't assert himself.

Worse… he suffers from the comparison with his predecessor Edouard Philippe whose press conferences at the height of the epidemic had been hailed by the French and had helped to increase his popularity.

Just a man's question?

Some believe that the organization was “ 

 ”, more “ 

 ” during confinement, so with Edouard Philippe, but that is not the only explanation.

If the government gives the impression of always having a delay time, it is perhaps also by optimism sin " 

 ", recognizes a member of government.

The start of the school year was supposed to be the time for the presentation of the recovery plan with positive communication and 100 billion euros in the key, but all of this was hit by the resurgence of the epidemic and the restrictions on poorly understood freedoms. by many French people.

And then there was the territorialization of the announcements which started from a good intention: to associate the mayors.

But the government encountered resistance from local elected officials who questioned its decisions, as in Marseille.

And it muddied the message.

What does Emmanuel Macron think of it?

The president is not happy.

And he let his ministers know.

He expects, we are told, that his government manages the health crisis better and gives more " 

 ".

He was moved by the inability to provide " 

 " to certain questions such as that of tests and above all, he wants instructions to be better anticipated and things to follow on the ground when decisions are made.

He is very “ 

 ” with the government and therefore with his Prime Minister from whom he expects “ 

 ”.

In other words, Emmanuel Macron is putting the pressure on.

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• French politics

• Emmanuel Macron

• Coronavirus