In the name of pluralism : Polarization and shift to the Right in the 2022 presidential campaign within audiovisual media

Résumé 0

The assumption that the media are becoming “right-wing”—that is, not simply conveying conservative political discourse critical of a modernity that is supposedly destroying society, but actively producing such discourse by themselves—has gained increasing traction in recent years. While the broadcasting industry in France seemed to be immune to this trend for legal reasons, we are now witnessing a phenomenon of capital reorganization that has the potential to influence the political stance of radio and television outlets. Based on a content analysis, this article aims to shed light on the news coverage of the 2022 French presidential election by comparing a variety of content in terms of genre, format, and audience: an evening news program (“19/45” on M6), a radio morning segment (“En toute subjectivité” on France Inter), and an infotainment talk show (“Touche pas à mon poste” on C8). We hypothesize that if there is indeed a “shift to the Right” within the media system, it should be observed at the level of programs with significant audience impact that were not initially designed specifically to promote a conservative or reactionary agenda. Our results confirm that polarization and right-wing tendencies in the media can and should be observed in audiovisual content at the program level, manifesting in contrasting ways from one program to another. This raises the question of media professionals’ attitudes toward democracy and the extent to which broadcast media regulation actually meets its objectives.