The questioning comes back every five years, at each presidential election. How is the exposure of the different candidates on radio and television calculated? From January 1 until March 27, it is the “principle of equity” which applies. The latter is controlled by the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), a new body that brings together the Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) and Hadopi. This principle, which aims to strengthen pluralism during an election period, should not be confused with equal speaking time, which should be observed later in the campaign. Explanations.
What is the principle of equity?
From January 1, date of the start of the electoral period, “all declared or suspected candidates must be treated fairly based on political weight”, explained Roch-Olivier Maistre, the president of Arcom, Monday, January 3, on franceinfo. This notion of “political weight” intersects with several elements: the results of the previous elections, the polls or even “involvement in the campaign”, underlines the regulator, which refers in particular to “the organization of public meetings, the participation in debates, the designation of a financial representative”. Clearly, the more a camp mobilizes for the ballot, the higher its airtime can be. Arcom stresses that this principle of fairness must be respected throughout the period (that is to say until March 27), both for speaking time and for airtime.
What is the difference between talk time and airtime?
The speaking time of a candidate corresponds to the duration of his various interventions, but also of his supports, on television and radio services. To obtain a candidate’s airtime, you must add to his speaking time “all the sequences devoted to him, if they are not explicitly unfavorable to him”, specifies the Arcom. This is the case with a television channel report on the movement of a candidate or a debate between specialists on his program.
What changes from March 8?
From Tuesday March 8, the day of publication in the Official Journal of the list of candidates drawn up by the Constitutional Council, Arcom will ensure the principle of so-called “enhanced” equity. The fairness of airtime must then “be respected under comparable programming conditions”, according to four time slots (morning, day, evening and night). Until Sunday March 27, for example, not to broadcast the speeches of a candidate and his supporters only in the afternoon or at night, at a low listening hour.
When will the equity period end?
From Monday March 28, the date of the start of the official presidential campaign (i.e. two weeks before the first round), equality of airtime replaces equity: all the candidates in the running must benefit from the same exposure until to Friday April 8, date of the end of the campaign for the first round. During the reserve period, Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April, “no poll, result or election comment can be broadcast on air”, also recalls the Arcom. A new period of equality resumes the day after the first round, until Friday, April 22, two days before the second round.
What about Emmanuel Macron?
Not yet declared, the head of state is not immune to the count made by the media because he is presumed to be a candidate for re-election. However, a nuance applies in his case: “We make the separation between his remarks as head of state in the sovereign sense and his remarks when he descends into the political debate”, explains Roch-Olivier Maistre.
Concretely, when he speaks about the measures taken in the face of Covid-19, his airtime is not counted, because this corresponds to the sovereign domain. On the other hand, when he defends his record or projects himself on the electoral deadlines of 2022 and beyond, Emmanuel Macron sees his expression taken into account.
Pending the analysis of the December 31 wishes, Arcom estimated that two-thirds of its November 9 speech related to the national political debate, a proportion that the regulator also observed for its press conference on the French presidency. of the European Union on December 9.
Who controls these rules of pluralism?
We can easily imagine the little hands of the Arcom watching each television channel and each radio antenna to capture each other’s expressions down to the second. This is only partially true: the counting of airtime is carried out jointly by the media and the regulator.
“Each editorial team gives us the list of people they have invited, the speaking time and the airtime.”
Roch-Olivier Maistre, President of Arcomon franceinfo
Then, every two weeks, Arcom publishes the details of these accounts and “rule on respect for this principle of equity”. For example, it is possible to consult the bimonthly statements of the franceinfo channel, as for other audiovisual media, during the 2017 presidential election.
Are sanctions possible?
First, entered by individuals or personalities who believe they do not benefit from fair airtime, the Arcom “can intervene to signal to radios and televisions the imbalances that it finds so that they are corrected as quickly as possible”. The instance can also “to put in default the media which do not respect their obligations and to impose a sanction if the warning is not followed by effect”.
During the previous presidential campaign, only Radio Classique had been warned, a sanction prior to the formal notice, for not having correctly transmitted to the CSA the statements of speaking and air time of the candidates for the Elysee Palace. Since then, the CNews television channel has been put on notice in early December for relegating the officials of La France insoumise and the government to the night.