In the media is about to begin its 6e season on Télé-Québec this week, a rarity for a program devoted to the media. In five years, it has established itself as an unmissable event for dissecting the mechanisms of information and image production, while taking a critical look at the environment.
The media community is not used to being criticized, but the goal is really to ensure that our community asks itself questions and that things change, “explains in an interview Marie-Louise Arsenault, the host at the helm of the show.
Launched in fall 2017, In the media offers every Wednesday, the time of an hour of airtime, to examine the media ecosystem from every angle. It analyzes the journalistic coverage of the week’s events, both in Quebec and internationally. It also dissects the striking images that have circulated in advertising, in the media or on social networks.
An exercise that is not easy, concedes Marie-Louise Arsenault. “It is not a comfortable position, because it is our colleagues who are targeted. Even if the goal is not to point the finger at what is good or not good, it still remains that we question certain ways of doing things”, underlines the host, confident of having already received comments from colleagues “ disappointed or dissatisfied” with comments made on the show.
It is however “necessary”, according to her, to take this step back to push the reflection with journalists – and those who gravitate around -, in order to improve certain practices, to change certain mentalities.
Important interviews
Over the years, the program itself has evolved to adapt to the incessant changes in the media ecosystem, underlines the president of Groupe Infopresse, Arnaud Granata, who developed the concept of In the media and participates as a regular collaborator.
New sections have appeared, other collaborators have joined the team and more time is now allocated to each subject. The pandemic having also restricted the number of people authorized at the table on set, Marie-Louise Arsenault now finds herself alone at the table with the guest of the day — a public figure or a media worker — which makes it possible to create a hot seat, that is to say an interview in the hot seat. “Interviews are busier, go deeper. It’s a big plus for the show, ”underlines Arnaud Granata.
And Marie-Louise Arsenault “loves” the formula. “It’s definitely a more ‘confrontational’ interview for the guests. They are made to reflect on what they have done, on the decisions they have made, on their public image and the inconsistencies in their public image. […] But it is done with love and kindness. We are not humiliating anyone, on the contrary. I think people come out of it stronger. »
Moreover, this format also invites confidence. “It allows some to also be critical of their environment,” she notes. […] Others come to speak out and change misperceptions about themselves. »
Among her significant interviews, she thinks of the passage of the former PQ minister and today CAQ candidate Bernard Drainville, when he was a host at 98.5 FM. “He was very transparent, both able to reflect on the profession of host and the power that this position gives, but also on his transition from journalist to politician. »
She also says she is marked by the interview with the host Chantal Lamarre who spoke without filter on the difficulties of aging on the screen, or the one with the host Patrick Lagacé, when she was able to question him on the lack of space for women at the microphone of 98.5 FM.
On the other hand, several people systematically refuse to lend themselves to the game. “I don’t blame them, but I think it’s a huge privilege to be a public figure. It is a useful act and a proof of generosity to speak sincerely to the people who watch the programme; talk about the job, the difficulties of the job, our image, etc. Because after all, it is the public who chooses to keep us in their eye. »
Besides, who would she dream of seeing at her table this season? ” A lot of people ! she exclaims. In his top 5, we find Pierre Karl Péladeau, Julie Snyder, Martin Matte, Paul Arcand and Fabienne Larouche. Big names in the industry who would certainly have “exciting things to tell”. “It would be very interesting for both the community and the general public,” she adds.
media education
Remember, the show also has an educational function. By scrutinizing the media universe, highlighting the errors and blunders that have been made, the team also explains the workings of image and information production. “I think that a real education in the media helps people to be less conspiratorial, to question less all the work of journalists and their legitimacy in society,” emphasizes Marie-Louise Arsenault.
But by dint of criticizing the media, isn’t there a risk of fueling the public’s distrust of them? No, answers Arnaud Granata straight away. “It is with transparency that we gain people’s trust. And the more a consumer of news is informed, the more he will have a critical look at the news that falls on us in abundance. »