France in the eyes
,
Mission Convaincre
,
Elysée 2022
… Many programs invite French people to their set.
In front of the television cameras, anonymous people take the floor in front of the candidates for the presidential election.
What interests do the channels and producers find in this mechanism?
France in the eyes
on BFMTV,
Mission Convaincre
on LCI,
Elysée 2022
on France 2… A few weeks before the presidential election, it is the commotion on the side of the TV channels which want to install “the” rendezvous you campaign politics.
Although they all seek to distinguish themselves, there is an air of music common to all these programs: the promise to give voice, in their own way, to French women and men.
And that's without counting on Cyril Hanouna's latest project.
At the start of the school year, the host of C8 announced that he was working on an additional program.
“200 French people who will be installed in a setting in the form of an agora facing the candidate.
Everyone will have a box to vote live on questions concerning the candidate [and] his proposals, ”he described in
Paris Match
.
A mixture of interactivity and interaction, a magic recipe on the eve of the presidential election?
A mechanism (almost) as old as TV
Involving public opinion in programs is a ruse almost as old as television itself.
In 1954,
Face à l'opinion
was considered the first political program in history.
At the time, Pierre Corval moderated the interview between a politician and three journalists from the written press.
A few decades later, the polls come to interfere in the position and, with them, the concerns of the citizens.
Reports, vox pops, telephone questions, people make themselves heard.
“At one point, there is a crisis of legitimacy for journalists who are accused of being in collusion with politicians.
To compensate for this, the idea will be to make public opinion appear, that the public will feel represented in the words of citizens who will seem closer to them,” says Marie Lherault, media sociologist.
Thus, in 2007, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor takes the antenna of TF1 with
I have a question to ask you
where it does nothing but pass the dishes between the people of the public and the candidates with the Elysée.
"Patrick Poivre d'Arvor was painful to see in his new costume as a microphone smuggler, forbidden from the slightest remark, from the slightest reminder", wrote
Les Echos
.
“Ask, criticize or challenge the candidates”
Subsequently, TF1 offers other similar appointments such as
Word of candidate
in 2012. "I do not think there will be any particular fashion in 2022", then replies David Pujadas, host of
Mission Convaincre
, when he is asked why so many shows use this spring this year.
“The fact that there are French people is not enough to define it.
Our originality is that they are French people far from politics, ”explains the journalist who gives the floor to six abstainers in front of the candidates for the presidential election on LCI.
For Germain Dagognet, director of the news magazines of France Télévisions, two elements justify the multiplication of speeches by French women and men on TV this year: the Covid-19 and abstention.
“We said to ourselves that the campaign was delayed, that it was not going as it should have taken place, so our public service role is that our audience is present on the show and can question, criticize or challenge the candidates. “, he specifies.
Personification more than representativeness
First presented as a "panel" according to a first press release, the hundred people who will take part in
Elysée 2022
this Thursday evening on France 2 does not ultimately meet these conditions.
“The word “panel” responds to a probing definition, this will not be the case as far as we are concerned.
We will be more a community of French people who do not meet representativeness criteria, ”underlines Germain Dagognet.
On the other hand, unlike its competitors, the show will not hand them the microphone directly.
If seen on air, viewers' thoughts will be directed to the show's production teams.
When one of them has a question, it can be asked by Laurent Guimier.
A different way of “bringing the French closer to the political debate”.
By ruling out the option of a panel,
Elysée 2022
is betting on personification more than on representativeness.
“We are on the quest for identification, advances Marie Lherault.
The people chosen are good candidates.
We have a selection of good clients, people who have opinions, know how to express them and a form of telegenics.
In fact, it is not representative of all French people.
»
Counterbalance mistrust of the media?
A direct dialogue between citizens and politicians, the idea could also serve to temper the mistrust that part of the public expresses towards journalists.
“It is not in relation to this distrust that the insertion of French people in a program like this is situated, contradicts David Pujadas about
Mission Convaincre
.
It is simply in the variety of registers and colors that a political program must embody.
»
However, in these editorial choices, “we have the desire to get out of the interpersonal relationship between politicians and political journalists, notes Marie Lherault.
Of course, all of this is artefactual since the editorial staff will define who will be responsible for which themes”.
On paper, one might therefore believe that the questions asked correspond to the concerns of a large number of citizens.
But that would be forgetting behind the scenes of the production of the show itself, orchestrated by the channels.
To counter this feeling,
Elysée 2022
is betting on faces familiar to viewers: Claire Chazal, Patrick Cohen and Hugo Clément.
“These journalists have credibility with the public because they have been dealing with certain issues for a long time,” assures Germain Dagognet.
Only the ratings will determine whether the public cares more about credibility or identification.
Politics
Can Emmanuel Macron do without televised debates?
Politics
In Reims, Marine Le Pen refuses the duel with Eric Zemmour to set up the match with Emmanuel Macron
Presidential election 2022
Television
BFM-TV
France 2
Here
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print