“I still believe in politics”

Caroline Roux is the embodiment of France 2’s political shows. She also presents from Monday to Thursday, since 2016, the show C dans l’air on France 5 which brings together one million viewers and has two million downloads of her podcast. audio. Thursday, November 9, on France 2, she will host at 8:40 p.m., a new issue of L’Évènement devoted to immigration. On set, politicians, but also reports from the France Télévisions editorial staff around the world to see how things are going elsewhere.

franceinfo: It’s the first issue of the season and obviously, the line-up is difficult to put together. Gérald Darmanin and Jordan Bardella would have canceled their presence according to Éric Ciotti who also, therefore, will not come. We do not understand anything anymore. Finally, who will be there tonight?

Caroline Roux: Don’t worry, they will be there. Gérald Darmanin will be live from the Senate. Jordan Bardella will be in duplex. On set, we will have Marion Maréchal, François Ruffin. But there will also be mayors who will also tell us how immigration is going on the ground because it will be interesting to decipher it. Psychodrama when you organize a political show is one of the fundamentals.

Is it true that Éric Ciotti doesn’t want to come because there is Marion Maréchal on set?

Everyone sets their own conditions, what we need to do is manage to make a plateau. Me, in Eric Ciotti’s place, watching my TV this evening, I would regret not having come. In fact, it was his place as leader of the LR, especially in the context of a debate in the Senate where the right played its role, to be present on the stage. But what interests viewers is the subject, immigration, what we are going to say about it, this issue and that the public service goes to prime time with guests, experts, the France Télé editorial team with our correspondents who will be in Canada, in Brussels or even reports in Denmark, Germany, etc.

It will therefore not be the eternal debate between politicians on the migration issue whose positions we already know.

We are going to bring reality into this set. We are going to bring in the foreigner in the sense of the experiences linked to immigration which occur abroad. Look at Canada which has a sort of points license, there are different models, which will also force our political class to take a position. We’re also going to have witnesses and I insist on that, because it’s going to be a great moment in the show.

“Mohamed Bouhafsi who collaborates with us for L’Événement and who will highlight convictions, anger, with profiles of people who will come on the set to convey a statement and convictions.”

Caroline Roux, journalist

at franceinfo

So L’Évènement was installed a year ago with Emmanuel Macron as the first guest. It was a very nice move. You received Bruno Le Maire, Volodymyr Zelensky, then Gabriel Attal. Is there still an interest in programming, in prime time, long political programs, long interviews outside election periods? Do the French still want this format?

Fortunately I believe in it, otherwise I’ll change jobs, frankly, but obviously and then that’s our role. We are still the public service France Télévisions, France 2. If we say to ourselves that we are only going to do topics that work or only detective series because that makes the score, we will miss the information mission of the public service.

The audience doesn’t matter?

“I want to bring the political debate forward so that it can be seen, because I still believe in the collective. I still believe in politics, I still believe in commitment. I still have convictions and I like those who wear them. I still have respect for them.”

Caroline Roux, journalist

at franceinfo

We don’t care about the audience. It would be a mistake to tell you that. Obviously we make TV to be watched. We had very good audiences. When you have a meeting between guests and a tense situation, it works. And when you look at the score of Emmanuel Macron or that of Volodymyr Zelensky with whom we could say: Yes, well, the war in Ukraine, look at the score he made, more than three million. I haven’t given up, I assure you.

You are also the presenter of C dans l’air, on France 5 since 2016. Your audience favors international subjects. How do you stand out when all the channels are talking about international events like the war in Ukraine and currently the war in the Middle East?

We’re C in the air! This means that today it embodies a mark of credibility and seriousness. It’s a tone. We have, it’s true, been copied a lot, but when you look at the scores we have been able to achieve in recent days, we are still well over a million. We always have experts fighting to come see us. It’s a recipe that continues to work. And what is very interesting is that we are discovering new uses and the C dans l’air audio podcast has become a real phenomenon with more than two million downloads. It’s a way of consuming the show because it’s calm, we listen to each other and it also listens to itself.

Watch this interview on video: