Regarding this week’s news, that of before the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we come back with Estelle Cognacq, editorial director of franceinfo, on the editorial treatment reserved for the programs of presidential candidates. And we start with this message from a listener.
“I regularly listen to your antenna and I try in vain to hear political journalists analyzing the content of the programs of the candidates. On a daily basis, we are watered with the actions of the candidates, their movements, the number of people present at their meetings, of their alliance or not. The content of the proposals is never discussed in depth and analyzed.”
Emmanuelle Daviet: Estelle Cognacq, do you find this remark justified? Do you offer comparative analyzes of candidate programs?
Estelle Cognacq: First, there are several things: in a presidential campaign, there are different times and the programs of the candidates. We also see that they gradually reveal them as the campaign progresses. So, we don’t always have enough to make comparisons between the different programs. And everything related to alliances, travel, meetings, that’s part of what drives a presidential campaign.
Afterwards, we have already dealt with comparative analyzes of programs or the programs of candidates through several programs, in particular Our presidential mornings, which we have started since October, where there, we have a candidate who, on the morning, speaks about the news, of course, but also about elements of his thematic program. And we also have in this sequence questions from the listeners. As a result, it allows you to get an idea of a candidate’s program.
We will return from March 8 to a new phase of the campaign where there, we will have the declared candidates, where the programs will be a little more precise and we will set up a new sequence in the morning. And there, we will compare the programs of each, and we will explain them. So I would say that there are several times in a campaign.
Emmanuelle Daviet: We continue with a remark that is a bit particular, but which deserves to be relayed, because it invites us to recall the principle of rebroadcasting of subjects which is specific to a continuous news channel.
Here is the message: “Faithful listener of franceinfo, judging your information reliable, I regret the practice of rebroadcasting interviews and reports by making the listener believe that it is live, by not being honest about the form, instilling doubt in you on the fund. Why make believe that it is live, in particular by the launch in this period of mistrust and conspiracy? I can only urge you to be as honest as possible.”
How do you respond to this comment?
Estelle Cognacq: I don’t think it’s a question of journalistic or editorial honesty on our part, but quite simply also of the organization of a continuous news channel. We cannot, today, be live on our antenna 24 hours a day. And then, franceinfo was built with a rebroadcast of a certain number of its editorial contents, its reports, its guests. So something can be live at one time, and rebroadcast two or three times, at other times of the day.
In the same way, we have journalists who work seven days a week and there are times when they may or may not be live, both for organizational reasons, because when we are in the field, ‘we are following an event, a meeting, a demonstration or today in Ukraine, it is not always possible to be live. But on the other hand, also for the comfort of the listener, we record in live conditions. So, I don’t think it’s a question of being honest or not about all that, but rather a question of the organization of franceinfo.
We end with a crush from franceInfo listeners for the show The Informed with correspondents from the foreign press on Saturday evening, from the first edition, a fortnight ago, and they wrote to say all the good things he thought about it. So here are some messages:
“I found this program excellent. These journalists were well aware of our French politics and they also had an outside point of view that I found very interesting.” Other message : “What a breath of fresh air to Informed of franceInfo on Saturday evening. Another look at France. And then journalists who express themselves wonderfully. It is to be renewed more frequently.”
Estelle Cognacq, were these messages an incentive to renew the formula?
I would say yes, that is part of it. We tried this experiment in The Informed, because we are present seven days a week on our antenna. We wanted to deal with the French presidential campaign, through the eyes of foreign journalists in France, or who work for foreign media, to precisely see what they retain from it, are there other facts , other moments of politics on their side, and through the prism of their country.
And I must say that we too were very happy with the first episode, and that the messages we received, for the first and for the second, encourage us to continue and renew this experience, while also trying to open to as many correspondents as possible, so that we have views from several European countries.