ultra/extreme right, news item or social event?

Florent Guyotat, deputy editorial director of franceinfo, is at the microphone of Emmanuelle Daviet, mediator of the Radio France antennas, to answer questions from listeners.

A question often comes up in listeners’ comments to the Radio France broadcast mediator, regarding the Crépol drama. “I would like to understand why journalists now call the extreme right, ultra-right. What does ultra mean? What is the difference with extreme? If it is the same thing, why this choice of words?”

Emmanuelle Daviet: What do you say to these listeners, Florent Guyotat?

Florent Guyotat: So clearly, it’s not the same thing. We first speak of extreme right for political parties and political ideas. The National Rally, Reconquest, in France, are commonly classified as far right. Literally to the right of the right, on the political spectrum and then in terms of ideas, we also observe a constant distrust of immigration. So, extreme right is for political parties and for ideas.

But it’s true that on the air, you also hear about the ultra-right. There, we use this term voluntarily, to differentiate groups which often have far-right ideas, but which, in addition, make violence an instrument of their political action. This is clearly outside the republican field, and this is particularly the case for the Division Martel group, whose dissolution was announced at the beginning of December, in the Council of Ministers. A group, we recall, which is accused, in the report of the Council of Ministers, of having wanted to attack people of North African origin, and also of having participated in a punitive expedition, after the murder from young Thomas to Crépol. Punitive expedition in a district of Romans-sur-Isère, the neighboring town.

We continue with this request from a listener: “I would like your journalists to dig deeper into the significance of the Crépol drama. So, on your antenna, we hear two diametrically opposed assertions, on the one hand from the experts according to which it is only a news item, of which the “exploitation by the extreme right is therefore induced. On the other hand, the government spokesperson or politicians affirming that this is not a news item”?

So what is it? A news item that has become a social fact or a social fact from the first minutes of the drama?

So a news item, by definition, is very broad. It can mean many things: violence, injuries, an accident, a murder, clashes. The question is whether this news item becomes a social fact, that is to say whether it says something about our society. This is the question we constantly ask ourselves.

Obviously, in the case of Crépol yes, it has become a social fact. First, because all the political parties commented on it, and gave their interpretation, I mean their interpretation, of what happened. And then, beyond politics, it is obvious that this current event refers to debates within our society, in particular on security, and on the tensions which can exist between different zones of French territory.

I invite listeners to also read what we say about it, on the website of the Radio France mediator. We end with this question Florent Guyotat, how did the editorial team continue its investigative work to cover this news?

So, you have heard on Franceinfo, as on other media, the reactions, the comments of political figures on this affair. It’s normal, it’s the public debate, we must hear them. But I leave the responsibility for their words to each of these political parties.

We first tried to investigate the facts, what really happened. We of course went to Crépol, to Romans-sur-Isère with our special correspondents and with the help of journalists from France Bleu Drôme-Ardèche, on site. In this case, I remind you, the prosecutor called for the greatest caution. He called for caution from any hasty conclusions. And we, clearly, fit into this framework.

We have shown that the file is very complex. It is not possible at present, taking into account the elements in our possession, to affirm that the death of young Thomas corresponds to a racist crime, even if witnesses heard, on both sides , racist remarks. Premeditation also, at this stage, has not been established. So we investigated, we urged caution, and we still need to investigate. We will do so in the coming weeks to find out exactly what happened.