Television audiences had not reached such peaks in three decades. You could say, to a certain extent, that the success of television intensifies as the confinement hardens. At home, the television is a refuge, a landmark, in front of which we share what we can still share ... Jean-Marie Charon, media sociologist and in particular author of "Rédactions en invention" (Uppr, 2019) and "Journalists and their audiences - the big misunderstanding" (Vuibert, 2009), explains to Le Figaro what this triumph of traditional television reveals.
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LE FIGARO. - The television channels have never been so watched in… 30 years! What to think of this observation?
JEAN-MARIE CHARON. - The audiences of television channels, including the "historical" are remarkable, while over the last decade the erosion of TF1, France 2 or M6 seemed inevitable. In a few days, the trend seems to reverse. A first explanation, somewhat mechanistic, is of course that of confinement. More time available, many occupations now impossible can bring back to the family television (s). We can also attribute this success to the media itself, the mass media par excellence, a vector of social ties, at the height of its influence. At a time when the whole of society is facing the unknown of an absolutely unsuspected pandemic, a few months ago, there is a need to understand, to share, to find bearings, to hug each other. against others. Formerly, the anthropologist of the media, Daniel Dayan had spoken of “ceremonial television” in connection with in particular the coronation of Elizabeth II. Today it would be a completely different collective ceremony, of a society that needs to be one, to come together to face adversity. The segmenting media, such as web news sites, social networks cannot have the same virtues. And then, we must not forget either that hindsight only rarely means abandonment for the majority of our fellow citizens! This was recalled, last January, by the La Croix-Kantar barometer. General channels remained the main media for information on the national and international.
Even the youngest returned! Some rediscover the television set after a more or less long abandonment ...
Surveys of cultural practices have in fact pointed out for the past twenty years the gradual abandonment of radio and a significant decline in television among adolescents and young adults, now supplanted by social networks, search engines. Social networks, in particular, are the first means of obtaining information for 18-24 year-olds, Médiamétrie said recently. In a context of confinement, things seem to be reversed. Perhaps already, because the main cultural practice which is that of "seeing friends, meeting" according to studies by the Ministry of Culture, is no longer accessible. Young people are also among the audiences who favor live shows, outings… These are all practices that have become impossible as confinement. In addition, many families do not necessarily have spaces where the individualization of practices is easy when everyone is gathered at home. There may be a sudden practice of the family television. Finding yourself in the sharing of the same programs, can also be part of a need to come together, with your loved ones, your loved ones, in front of a world that has become a source of threats.
Is the news still a ritual? A mark of trust?
The JT is first of all a moment of communion within the home. It is also a window to an exterior that has become almost inaccessible, except for "exceptions" . Finally, it is the means of access to instructions, communications from the authorities. These three factors refer to practices necessary in time of confinement. They do not necessarily imply confidence, as traditionally shown for 30 years the inevitable decline in confidence in television as a means of information. A drop of 20%, according to the La Croix-Kantar barometer. A decline that is still widening in a crisis period, as was the case last year in connection with the yellow vests crisis, tells us the same barometer. In this regard, it suffices to observe the exchanges on social networks to measure the gap between listening to the authorities' communication during the news, and the virulence of the comments made about them.
Are there things that surprise you, that challenge you in television programming during this coronavirus crisis?
One thing strikes me about the content of televisions, but also of all the media, especially in their digital applications, it is the share taken by what is now known as "solution journalism" . It is not very far the time when associations like Reporters of Hope or Sparknews , appeared to preach in the desert. There were a few ad hoc operations, such as the “solutions journal” published by around 40 daily newspapers. Once a year ! But everyone remained convinced that the big news, but also that which made the audience, it was not that. With the coronavirus crisis, this solution journalism, made up of advice, support, mutual aid, interactivity, is essential everywhere and sometimes for hours, as on Radio France's channels, the sites of regional daily newspapers. like Nice Matin , one of the pioneers for this medium in France. Is it a fundamental phenomenon or rather something cyclical. There will certainly be a reflux once the containment and its effects have passed. A journalist's skill and a way of relating to their audience will have been learned and could well yield interesting fruits for the future of information practices.
Has containment changed your personal way of using the media? What do you observe? Including in your family?
The experience of confinement pushes to the extreme a phenomenon that has not stopped growing in recent decades, our dependence on the media for all our acts of daily life, our existence from day to day. This dependence gradually increased as what made social ties and support for our lives became more fragile, starting with unions, parties, churches, the neighborhood (with urbanization), families, etc. . Not that the media are responsible for this decline, as some claim in a largely inaccurate shortcut. On the other hand, the media occupied the spaces left vacant. This is probably what explains the exasperation of the debate around the reliability of information, the quality of this information, which has continued to grow in the last thirty years. "When you make a mistake, you put us in danger!" Say people virulently during group discussions on the subject (cf. Jean-Marie Charon: " Journalists and their audiences - the big misunderstanding ", Vuibert). Without doubt, apart from during the attacks in 2015, we have participated and experienced this dependence so much. Attention, the assessment which will be made a posteriori of the quality of this experience ...
Can we assume that after confinement, people will keep this exceptional link with TV?
It is difficult to anticipate how the current crisis will evolve, extend over time and how it will emerge. It is not very difficult to imagine that a bulimia of direct exchanges, outings, shows, in vivo events will be expressed, at least for a time. It seems unlikely to me that crisis behavior will continue, as evidenced by audience decline after exceptional periods. The economic model of 24 hour news channels is based on these brutal fluctuations. Even worse, the media that symbolize the crisis should not become a foil. The ball is partly in the hands of the television teams in their management of the return to normal. If the shortness of their economic model (advertising breakdown) does not weigh too much on their ability to adapt, at times which will be partly different.