Media, the controversial label

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On December 1, the Élysée published a video warning against false information relayed on the CNews channel, where Pascal Praud can be heard saying: “Emmanuel Macron plans a label for the media” or Philippe de Villiers chanting: “Never has a totalitarian threat been so present“. Accused of wanting to control the media, the Élysée responds by accusing CNews of spreading erroneous information. The Eye of 8 p.m. wanted to disentangle the true from the false.

To fight against disinformation, the Élysée is defending a project. In front of readers of the regional press, Emmanuel Macron explains: “We must distinguish between networks and sites that make money with personalized advertising and networks and information sites. This is why we are going to do everything to ensure that a label is put in place.”

A quality label for the press. At first going unnoticed, the idea has been hotly contested by the Bolloré group’s media since this weekend, on the front page of JDD and on the sets of CNews. “How can we not see in this initiative an authoritarian temptation of a president dissatisfied with media treatment and who wishes to impose a single narrative?” asks Pascal Praud on December 1 on CNews.

For the Élysée, the controversy goes too far. On December 1, the presidency published a video repeating the exact words of Emmanuel Macron. We hear him declare: “It is not the State which must verify. If it is the State which must verify, then it becomes a dictatorship.” Directly attacking the media of the Bolloré group, the president’s entourage takes the approach:“This being viral, the strong diffusion on social networks is serious. The questioning of the president as guarantor of fundamental freedoms, a response was necessary. Hence the denial which would have been made whatever the media”.

Contacted, the management of CNews did not wish to react. Pascal Praud refers to his editorials of the day, in which he states: “If he could shut down our channel, he would. He’ll do anything, maybe, he’ll try anything, maybe, to shut it down.” But far from putting out the fire, the counterattack at the Élysée fueled it. Marine Le Pen denounces on RMC: “This idea of ​​labeling is obviously extremely dangerous. And Emmanuel Macron’s objective is to control the information.”

Bruno Retailleau, president of the Republicans, even launched a petition on the morning of December 2. It had 30,000 signatures as of 6 p.m. “If tomorrow we have a sort of official monopoly on the truth through labeling, this will be a reason for many French people to turn away from it,” he explains.

On December 2, the Minister of Culture tried to put an end to the controversy: “Never have the President of the Republic or the government put forward the idea of ​​labeling the media by the State. Never” declares Rachida Dati in the hemicycle.

In reality, Emmanuel Macron was referring to an already existing label, managed by an independent organization: the Journalism Trust Initiative (JTI). Media seeking this certification answer 130 questions. Reporter Without Borders participated in its development. Thibaut Bruttin, deputy general director, specifies: “These are questions about who you are as a media outlet, who owns you, what your workforce is, what your income is, but also about the way you work: is there a correction mechanism, a verification mechanism? These are basic requirements, common to many other sectors. I think it’s interesting that the press is engaging in this process of transparency.”

To date, 2,400 media outlets around the world have applied for the label. In France, the following have already obtained it: TF1, France Télévisions and several regional press newspapers.