Since when has the far right been received in the media?

Every morning, the same characters follow one another in the morning shows, on television and radio sets: Jean-Philippe Tanguy, Louis Aliot, Laurent Jacobelli… Ultra-publicized members of the National Rally, to whom we hand a microphone at any time of the day, like their counterparts in other political forces. Omnipresent in the media space, the far right imposes its themes, its ideas, and takes advantage of this exposure to garner new votes in each election.

However, until the 1980s, there existed in France what is called a media “cordon humaine”, believing that far-right ideas could not be treated in the same way as those of other political parties. But thanks to an intervention by then President François Mitterrand, the reception in the media of far-right leaders and particularly Jean-Marie Le Pen will change, with consequences that still follow us today.

Mitterand/Le Pen, the helping hand

In 1982, Jean-Marie Le Pen sent a letter to the President of the Republic François Mitterrand, complaining about the lack of consideration given to his party in the French media, particularly on television. After all, because he represents millions of voters, the founder of the National Front believes that he also deserves to be handed the microphone.

François Mitterrand accedes to his request, and asks television channels to give a fairer place to the extreme right. Some observers see it as a political calculation, with the socialist president betting on bringing up the FN to divide the right. But for Erwan Lecoeur, political scientist specializing in the far right, Jean-Marie Le Pen was already appreciated by the media: “Certainly, Mitterand gives his agreement, but Le Pen was already considered a good client, controversial, and who made ‘hearing’.

According to him, we can observe at the time what he calls a “media Berlusconization” in reference to the media empire that Silvio Berlusconi created at the head of Italy, a “model of private TV trash which responds to private interests. “Mitterrand brought the FN into the realm of normal,” continues the political scientist, “where the media already appreciated its captivating side. »

Jean-Marie begins his tour of the sets

Freed from his pariah status, Jean-Marie Le Pen will receive more and more invitations, which media historian Christian Delporte recounts: “The first time Le Pen was received on the radio was in 1983, on Europe 1. At the time, this caused a scandal in the editorial staff, who voted on a potential strike. In 1984, he was invited to “Heure de Vérité”, the flagship political program of the time.

For the historian, if Le Pen is invited to the media, he is not treated like a politician like any other, which complicates demonization. “Marine Le Pen succeeded where her father failed, by making the FN a party like any other.”

Over the years, the far right has established itself in the media space, learning the codes, forging links, to the point of being today capable of shaping what we call the “media agenda”. “Today,” says Erwan Lecoeur, “it is they who determine the subjects we will talk about. They impose them as if they were always the right ones, and conversely, it becomes very difficult to talk about other subjects.”

For the historian Christian Delporte, it is today impossible to stop the spiral: “When we look at the very complacent headlines that part of the press was able to make on the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, we see that the editorial staff tries to create a potential readership. This is the problem of the general media, in their audience, there are necessarily supporters of Le Pen.”

An observation shared by Erwan Lecoeur, who sees the impact of the extreme right in society: “We know that the French have social and ecological values, but when we look at subjects of concern, the polls clearly show the breakthrough in security and immigration. All the themes of the extreme right are tested in the polls.” An omnipresence which forces the classic republican parties to run after the National Rally, seeing public opinion interested in these subjects.

Can we do otherwise?

If many countries such as France have long since abandoned the idea of ​​a “sanitary cordon” in the face of the rise of the extreme right, some die-hards are choosing to keep these parties away from the media debate, or in in any case to give it less importance.

This is particularly the case in Belgium (only on the French-speaking side), which has chosen not to give the floor to far-right leaders live. Born in 1991, this cordon aimed to counter the progress of the “Vlaams Belang” party in the legislative elections. This system targets parties whose comments can be considered crimes when they are racist or discriminatory. We do not make them invisible, but their comments are only retransmitted a posteriori, giving journalists time to analyze and comment on them correctly.

A cordon which holds, as Erwan Lecoeur explains: “In the Dutch North, where this cordon is not respected, the country has moved mainly to the extreme right”, where the scores in Wallonia remain very low.

More articles on the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen

“It is a societal choice,” continues the historian, “to assume that certain ideas should not be spread as if they were like others.” France has taken another path.