The reactions of franceinfo listeners were not lacking this week in the letters and emails received by Emmanuelle Daviet, the mediator of the Radio France antennas, after the live broadcast of the morning of October 11 on franceinfo, with Alexander Makogonov, the door- word of the Russian Embassy in France. Philippe Rey, editorial director of franceinfo, answers our listeners.
Emmanuelle Daviet: Why did you invite Alexander Makogonov, the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in France, in the morning last Tuesday, October 11?
Philip Rey: Because we simply had questions to ask him and answers to obtain, after Monday’s Russian bombardment of Ukraine. It was clearly one of the strong news of this beginning of the week. It is a conflict that strikes public opinion and worries the French. Makogonov represents and speaks for Putin in France. It was therefore normal to hear him and to hear him naturally by bringing him the contradiction. To let nothing go of his words and of course, to do our job, our job as a journalist, without conceding anything of these statements and the truth of the facts.
We received a lot of mail following this interview and the word “propaganda” often comes up in messages from listeners. And one of them writes: “Letting him express himself is opening the door to propaganda”.
Faced with this type of interlocutor, what should be the role of the journalist?
So, propaganda is letting an interlocutor, a group, a party speak and propagate an ideology, a doctrine without contradicting it. In other words, imposing a discourse without being able to respond. I will naturally come back to the role of the journalist. I still want to explain also that that day, Marc Fauvelle, the red thread of the morning, brought the contradiction directly to Makogonov. For example, when the spokesperson for the Russian Embassy speaks, and I quote, “from nice Russia”the immediate recovery of Marc Fauvelle was: “Where is the kindness of the Russians today in the war, after these bombardments? It was you who attacked Ukraine on February 24, and sent these missiles which fell on playgrounds”. These are questions that have nothing to do with being rather complacent.
We have done, and I come to your question, fully our job as journalists. The role of the journalist is of course to investigate, it is of course to reveal. But it is also, once again, to contradict, not to accept a truth which must be addressed to certain targets, not to yield anything and to show in this precise case, and I believe that we have done it, the weakness of the Russian word.
How do you respond to this listener who believes that the audiovisual public service should not relay the word of the enemy of Ukraine?
Since last February 24, there has not been a single day without the presence of a reporter from the Radio France group in Ukraine, to report on this conflict. I would also like to congratulate the international editorial teams and the franceinfo editorial teams. Determination, commitment, courage, know-how. We cannot be accused of relaying Russian words and forgetting the Ukrainians.
These are reports, these are direct, these are special editions. We are on the ground, the journalist speaks and the journalist sees. And it is essential for the balance of our democracy. Saying things, reporting events remains more than ever our commitment and we will, of course and quite naturally, continue.
How can everyone be better informed?
Participate in the consultation initiated as part of the European project De facto on the Make.org platform. Franceinfo is the partner