The president will address this Wednesday at midday to the French in a television interview. With one objective: to show its determination on the pension reform, shaken up by the dispute that is taking hold. But the format chosen by the Élysée is already arousing criticism.
A televised intervention to reduce the pressure. After the rejection by only 9 votes of the cross-partisan censure motion and the multiplication of spontaneous mobilizations against the pension reform, Emmanuel Macron wants to regain control.
More accustomed to speeches or dedicated special programs – as during two special evenings last fall – the President of the Republic has chosen this time to invite himself to the 1 p.m. television news of TF1 and France. 2, who will relocate for the occasion to the Élysée. The interview will also be broadcast on BFMTV, with a special edition at noon.
No 20 Hours turned towards the national
To justify this choice, the entourage of Emmanuel Macron evokes “the choice of territories”. From competition between the “most beautiful markets in France” to safeguarding endangered craft trades, these two TV news want to be the representatives of the terroirs. But the observation leaves some specialists in political communication skeptical.
“It’s a bit strange to speak in newspapers with a more regional tone to discuss a reform that will engage generations of French people. A 20 hours more nationally oriented would have been more appropriate”, analyzes the communicator Philippe Moreau – Chevrolet.
It will only be the second time in six years of presidency that the head of state will speak during the lunch hour on television. The first and only experience so far had taken place in April 2018 with a cantor of the territories, Jean-Pierre Pernaut, during a newspaper relocated to a primary school in Berd’huis, in Orne.
Unprecedented interview to avoid any comparison
We saw the President of the Republic sitting in a class, with a calendar on the wall, children’s drawings and school supplies, all in a village of 1,100 inhabitants considered by TF1 as “the reflection of French municipalities”. This framework was intended to be symbolic, while Emmanuel Macron is regularly accused by his detractors of being a “president of cities”.
A former ministerial adviser from the previous five-year term sees another reason for this return to 1 p.m., despite being unaccustomed to political interviews. “It’s rather clever of him to take an exercise with little precedent”, deciphers this good connoisseur of the mysteries of power.
“We will not be able to make a comparison of audience with statements by other figures in political life or previous presidential interventions.”
The choice of retired viewers
The Élysée also sees in the choice of this interview this Wednesday at midday the desire to address “the many French people who return home for the lunch break” and therefore to employees. It is they who will be directly affected by the pension reform.
The figures for the audiences of TF1 and France 2, however, put this objective into perspective: the average age of the viewer of the JT of the first channel is 61.5 years. It rises to nearly 65 for public service.
This is precisely what the opposition criticizes the head of state. “Another contempt for the assets overwhelmingly opposed to its reform. At 1 p.m., the latter are working!”, Advanced Eliane Assassi, the president of the Communist senators on her Twitter account.
“The president is very clearly making the choice to address an elderly electorate who voted for him and who massively support pension reform. It’s a choice of comfort”, further deciphers Gaspard Gantzer, former communicator of François Hollande at the Elysee.
The mobilization against the pension reform is much more sustained in the ranks of the active (70%) against 53% for the pensioners, according to an Elabe poll for BFMTV.
A relatively classic format
The presidency also insists on “the choice of the contradictory” since Emmanuel Macron will be interviewed by Marie-Sophie Lacarrau and Julian Bugier. This will be the first time that these journalists will interview the president.
If the Head of State had sometimes taken risks during his first term, by confronting, for example, Edwy Plenel, the founder of Mediapart, in April 2018, or the media Brut in January 2020, the Elysée made this time this is a more classic choice.
“They are not bad guys, they are rather flexible,” said Laurent Vibert, a specialist in crisis communication.
Will this television performance be enough to bring the pressure down? Viewers should not expect to see Emmanuel Macron overturn the table. The president has already made it known to those around him that he does not intend to dissolve the National Assembly, or reshuffle the government, or withdraw the reform. A new day of inter-union action will be organized this Thursday.
