How does a continuous news radio talk about pension reform, tirelessly? Emmanuelle Daviet receives the deputy editorial director of franceinfo, Florent Guyotat.
Florent Guyotat, deputy editorial director of franceinfo, answers the questions of listeners on the treatment of the pension reform, since the presentation of the text, at the beginning of January, until the triggering of 49.3, this Thursday. Florent Guyotat is at the microphone of Emmanuelle Daviet, mediator of the antennas of Radio France.
Emmanuelle Daviet: The pension reform has been at the heart of the news for several weeks now. And on a continuous news channel, how do you renew the angles, to deal with this subject without tiring the listeners?
Florent Guyotat : So already, for us, there is something essential, it is the duty to explain. Since its presentation at the beginning of January, the text has evolved enormously until the outbreak of 49.3. And we, we have tried, at each stage, to explain the changes in this text on the legal age, on the contribution period, on long careers, on hardship.
This is really our first objective. Present this text, explain it so that everyone can then form an opinion. Afterwards, we also talk a lot about certain professions which are very mobilized, such as railway workers, like certain electricians and gas workers, like garbage collectors too, at the moment in Paris.
But we also try to give a voice to other employees, second-line employees, as they say. And then employees who work in the services, with people too, who sometimes are in favor of reform. We strive to give a voice to everyone and to all types of professions.
So we give the floor to those who are in favor of this reform. Specifically, listeners believe that we hear more opponents.
How is this speech distributed between the different points of view? First of all, do you find that the observation of the listeners who say that the floor is essentially given to the opponents, is justified?
It is an impression that one can have, but if it is an impression that is false. First, we are controlled by ARCOM, which replaced the CSA and which is therefore the regulatory and control authority for the audiovisual media.
We have imperatives of pluralism and we are controlled for it. If ever we gave too much voice to such and such a person or to such and such a camp, we would be pointed out and we should rectify the situation. You should know that we give the floor to everyone.
When, for example, at 8:30 a.m., including the morning political meeting, you hear an opponent of the reform. Each time, we try to give the floor earlier in the morning to someone who, on the contrary, approves of this reform.
And that goes for the reverse too, when we have a minister or a representative of the presidential majority at 8:30. Earlier in the morning, we try to give the floor to someone who challenges this reform.
Emmanuelle Daviet : In some messages, listeners regret too Parisian treatment of this news.
So I read you one of them. “Once again, the public service only speaks of Parisian garbage collectors. Are you interested in the number of garbage collectors on strike throughout the territory? We don’t even know how many cities are affected.”
And then another message in which we can read : “On the protests against the pension reform, a speaker said that the movement is less successful than in 2010, because there are fewer protesters in Paris. Paris is not France. In my department of Isère , many medium-sized cities organize local demonstrations. It is easier to march locally than to go to Paris for reasons of time and money, this listener writes to us, “so thank you to the journalists for not forgetting the provincials, and for knowing how to make additions”, he said, concluding his message.
How do you respond to these remarks, Florent Guyotat?
Florent Guyotat : Again, my answer is that our treatment is not exclusively Parisian, far from it. We have endeavored throughout the protest, throughout the presentation and the developments linked to this reform, to go to different medium-sized towns in France where we have been in recent weeks, to name only these towns, in Troyes, Morlaix, this Friday, we had four reporters in four cities in France in Rennes, Saint-Etienne, Montargis, also in Marseille.
So we see that we are making efforts, really not to deal only with this news in a Parisian way. Afterwards, there are obviously images that strike public opinion. The gathering this Thursday evening, March 16, at the Concorde in Paris. We are obliged to deal with it because it is in front of the National Assembly and it has a strong symbolic significance. But each time, once again, we strive to go to different cities in France, and to give voice to all types of professions, all types of social bodies.
We are also attentive to what is happening in companies, with people who are not necessarily unionized, with business leaders too, who may have fears about the way in which the reform is progressing, or fears about what it could cause on their economic activity. And all this, we strive to report in a pluralistic way.