Politics on French Television

Abstract

This article develops an analysis of the political programmes broadcast by the French channels during the presidential election of 1995. The study uses a theoretical framework based on Elias's notion of `figuration' and offers a brief description of the French `media landscape', profoundly changed in the late 1980s by the dual process of privatization and the birth of new television channels. The analysis then focuses on the study of the programming of the French channels, with a strong emphasis on the strategies pursued by the public channel France 2 and the private channel TF1, whose respective programming choices were completely different. Finally, a last point suggests some reflections on the necessary and uncertain rise of a new kind of political journalism in the media. Beyond the French case, this article offers some reflections both on the concept of `frame repertoires' for political broadcasting on television and about the international trends concerning the organization of political debates in the media.