Emmanuelle Daviet, mediator of the antennas of Radio France, receives this Sunday, January 23, Jean-Christophe Ogier, deputy to the general secretary of information of Radio France, to speak about the management of the speaking time of the candidates during the presidential campaign .
Emmanuelle Daviet: Political pluralism is essential to guarantee everyone diversified information through interviews, reports, by also giving a voice to actors in the field and to representatives of political parties. franceinfo promotes the public debate necessary to enlighten us as citizens and voters.
However, listeners regularly write to us about pluralism, and at the start of the presidential campaign year, some would like to know how speaking times are organized and who controls them, Jean-Christophe Ogier?
Jean-Christophe Ogier: Political pluralism, it must be remembered, is provided for by the Constitution, the law and the rules of the supervisory authority. Since January 1, 2022, it has been called Arcom, the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority. It was born from the merger between the CSA, the Superior Council of Audiovisual, and Hadopi, which monitored the Internet.
We count political speaking times throughout the year, and we try to respect what is called equity, that is to say that one part is reserved for the executive and the other is divided between all the political formations that exist in the landscape.
Arcom considers that the electoral campaign started on January 1st. So, how are the calculations organized?
Since January 1, it is necessary to specifically record the speaking times of all the candidates and their supporters. We designate under the term of candidates, all the people who applied, but also all those we suppose who will be candidates. This applies, for example, to the President of the Republic.
The campaign will take place in three periods. The first period runs from January 1 to March 7. What are the obligations of the channels?
All radios and televisions must respect equity between the candidates, as for pluralism outside the election, it is up to each media to assess what these candidates weigh in relation to each other. We must look at the results of previous elections, and first of all the previous presidential election. We must also see the results of the intermediate elections, the animation of the campaign and, if there are any, the polls. Thus, each media must define an objective that it must meet and justify to Arcom.
Emmanuelle Daviet: The second period begins on March 8. On that day, the Constitutional Council announces the names of the candidates who have obtained the 500 signatures necessary to participate in the election. From March 8, how does the balance work?
Jean-Christophe Ogier: Always the principle of equity. But in addition, it is necessary, until March 26, to offer candidates a comparable exposure, that is to say if we make people talk about it in the morning. Everyone must be able to talk to each other in the morning, then during the day, then in the evening, then at night.
And the last period?
The last period, from March 27, is the official campaign. We are obliged to respect perfect equality between all candidates, and offer them comparable exposure. It ends on Friday, two days before the election. We are entering what is called the reserve period. We no longer have the right to hear the candidates and talk about their program.
And in this context, how is the word of the President of the Republic taken into account?
So, we must take into account the President of the Republic, if we assume that he will be a candidate. This is the case of Emmanuel Macron, for example. But you have to know how to judge what is sovereign, that is to say when the head of state speaks in the name of France, and what concerns the electoral campaign.
We will take an example. This week, in Strasbourg, the President of the Republic went to speak to MEPs. His introductory remarks, we can consider that it is sovereign. But when he then responds to the French deputies, it is from the electoral campaign.
At Radio France, who is responsible for doing all the calculations?
We have a structure that counts, a partner that counts down to the second. All the calculations, we check them. We return to the antennas to find out if they agree. And once all that is done, we will send our speaking times to Arcom which, for its part, monitors, checks and also listens and comes back to us when it does not agree.