Organized on Wednesday April 20 at 9 p.m., four days before the second round, the debate between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will be presented by journalists Léa Salamé (France 2) and Gilles Bouleau (TF1), the channels formalized on Thursday.

As has been the custom for this traditional appointment since the 1974 election, these names have been agreed between the channels and the campaign teams.

But within France Télévisions, some believe that this choice would not necessarily have been the same if the candidates had not been consulted.

At the center of the questions, the presenter of the 8 p.m. of France 2, Anne-Sophie Lapix.

"We hear that neither Macron nor Le Pen wanted her for days or even weeks," a reporter from the editorial office told AFP.

A position that Jordan Bardella, acting president of the RN, has publicly assumed.

"Marine Le Pen does not want Anne-Sophie Lapix to lead the debate" because the journalist "cannot hide her hostility", he said on CNews on Monday.

Salad "choice N.1"

The management of France Télévisions categorically denies having yielded to the demands of the candidates.

Journalist Léa Salamé on France 2 and France Inter on November 30, 2021 JULIEN DE ROSA AFP / Archives

"No one has been challenged, those who say the opposite will lie", assures AFP Laurent Guimier, director of information for the public group.

"Léa Salamé, who is an excellent interviewer, was the number one choice", he continues about the one who co-hosted Elysée 2022 with him, France 2's first evening show on the presidential election.

"There is a logic" to it leading the debate after having presented this flagship program, underlines Mr. Guimier.

For its part, "TF1 had full latitude in the choice of its journalist", declared to AFP Thierry Thuillier, deputy general manager of the Information division of the TF1 group.

"We had only one duty: parity. It was clear that if a woman had to represent France Télévisions, it was necessarily a man (for TF1), and this man was necessarily Gilles Bouleau", a- he added.

This episode has in any case fueled criticism against the practice which wants the candidates to have their say on the hosts of the debate.

"This right of veto or challenge from another time must be abolished", denounced the National Union of Journalists (SDJ) of France Télévisions on Wednesday, after the publication of articles in the newspapers Le Parisien and Le Monde mentioning the Lapix case. .

Journalist Gilles Bouleau on TF1 on April 13, 2022 Ludovic MARIN POOL / AFP / Archives

“These choices should be up to the editorial teams and to them alone,” added another union, the SNJ-CGT, on Thursday.

"Archaic"

"It's true that it's a bit archaic," journalist Christophe Jakubyszyn told AFP.

Today at BFMTV, he had co-hosted for TF1 the debate between the two rounds of 2017, already between Mr. Macron and Mrs. Le Pen.

Beyond this symbolic debate, several controversies of this kind have marked this campaign.

In the week preceding the first round, Mr. Macron had been the only one of the twelve candidates not to participate in Elysée 2022, his team highlighting "agenda problems".

Montage of photos taken on April 14, 2022 of journalists Léa Salamé and Gilles Bouleau who will host the debate between the two rounds on April 20 Bertrand GUAY, Ludovic MARIN AFP / Archives

The Society of Journalists (SDJ) of France 2 had criticized him for "refusing the invitations" of the channel.

To respect the equality of speaking time, France 2 had broadcast images of one of its meetings, which had caused tension in the editorial staff.

And Tuesday during a press conference, Marine Le Pen assumed to marginalize the journalists of the Quotidien program (TMC), accused of making "entertainment" and not information.

"Election night, campaign event, interview on set, press conferences ... It's not up to politicians to choose the journalists who question them," France 2's SDJ protested on Wednesday in light of all these incidents.

© 2022 AFP