1
Pluralism in Broadcasting Media
Key Dates
1955 Airing on RTF of the first official radio and television campaign in the context of the general election of 2 January 1956.
1965 Airing on ORTF of the first official radio and television campaign in the context of the presidential election of 5 and 19 December 1965; 2 hours of radio and television broadcasts were made available to each candidate.
1969 On 12 November 1969, the Board of Directors of ORTF adopted a directive setting forth the principle of pluralistic access to the air: "As regards views expressed, where, in a single day and during the same programme, a balance is not achieved between, government representatives, those who agree with them, and those who criticize them, such a balance shall be achieved over the course of a reasonably computed period." The so-called "three-thirds" rule was born.
1982 The first broadcasting media regulatory body, Haute Autorité de la communication audiovisuelle (HACA), was set up to "cut the umbilical cord" between political power and the media. The three-thirds rule became more specific: equal speaking time had to be granted to the government, the majority, and the opposition in Parliament, on a monthly basis.
2000 The Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel (CSA) set forth the « principe de référence en matière de pluralisme » adding several requirements to the three-thirds rule: taking into account parties not represented in Parliament; comparable broadcasting conditions for various political speakers; and, longer assessments periods: quarters for news hours and segments, semesters for news magazines and other kinds of shows.
taking into account speaking time granted to the Président de la République broaching topics part of the national political conversation. Speaking time granted to members of the administration, the majority in parliament, and to presidential aides, is computed in the "presidential majority" category. Speaking time granted to the opposition in Parliament may not be less than half of the aggregate speaking time granted to the President and the presidential majority taken together.
3
Official Radio and Television Campaigns
General Legal Framework
For some elections and referendums, official broadcasts are aired under law, giving political parties the opportunity to present their own arguments and candidates. Radio and television sociétés nationales de programmes are under obligation to produce and air the broadcasts. Costs are borne by the French State.
The broadcasts are aired on France Télévisions' channels (France 2, France 3, France 5, Réseau outre-mer 1ère) and Radio France (France Inter) during official campaign periods.
The overall duration of radio and television campaigns is set by law; in most cases, it is then up to the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel to break the duration down so as to cover the elections' two rounds, while taking into account how representative the candidates' political parties are.
Article 16 of the law of 30 September 1986 provides that the Conseil "shall set forth rules governing production, scheduling, and broadcasting conditions for election campaign broadcasts (...)."
Equality of Access to Means of Production
The Conseil adopted a decision relating to radio and television campaigns setting forth freedom of expression for the candidates as a principle, while also setting forth a few restrictions dealing with, law and order, respect for others, and banning statements tantamount to advertising. Other obligations were provided for, in particular, a ban on the use of the national anthem. Conversely to other countries, political adversaries may not be denigrated and funds may not be raised.
Rules relating to the broadcasts' shooting and editing conditions are specified by the
Conseil. To guarantee equality of treatment, a maximum amount of time is set for
recording and editing. Under the principle of equality, a list of technical equipment made available to the parties is also published.
Under the decision relating to production, scheduling, and broadcasting conditions, political parties are entitled to provide their own video files—images of public meetings, video clips, sound files—provided they do not exceed 50% of the total broadcast time allotted for the first round of the election, and 75% of the time allotted for the second round.
broadcasts.
Informing the Public
The Conseil also ensures the broadcasts are included in the relevant editors'
programme schedules at times when audience is significant; several times a day, where necessary. Broadcasting order is drawn by lots.
Subtitling of the broadcasts has become mandatory. The use of sign language is encouraged. On the occasion of the campaign for the presidential election of 2012, audiodescription was used for the first time on France 2.
5
Pluralism during Election Periods
Under article 16 of the law of 30 September 1986, the Conseil's charges include guaranteeing pluralism during election periods; in deliberation 2011-1 of 4 January 2011, the Conseil set forth specific rules for this purpose applicable to the treatment of election news, and, in particular, to political figures' access to the air. For each election campaign, the Conseil issues a further recommendation setting forth additional specific rules to be applied by broadcasting media, in particular in their treatment of election news. Also included in the recommendation, is a list of editors who must forward to the Conseil on a weekly basis a statement detailing speaking and air times.
The Conseil sets the date on which the recommendation is to come into effect: either, well ahead of the poll (e.g., for the 2007 presidential campaign, the Conseil's recommendation became applicable as from 1 December 2006—i.e., almost five months prior to the first round of the election) or, on a much closer date.
The recommendation applies to all radio stations and television channels within the Conseil's supervision remit, when they address the campaign in their shows, whatever the kind of show—news segments and magazines, entertainment, talk-shows, etc. Throughout the campaign, the Conseil performs very regular and very frequent checks of speaking and air times on certain radio stations and television channels deemed particularly relevant given their audience's size and the air time they devote to the campaign.
A- Rules relating to Candidates' and Parties' Access to the Air on Broadcasting Media
Fairness
Under the principle of fairness, radio stations and television channels must grant candidates (or political parties) and their supporters speaking or air time, taking into account how representative they are, and whether or not they are effectively involved in the campaign.
Two main sets of criteria are thus used to assess fairness:
- candidates' representativeness based, in particular, on the candidate's or political party's performance in the most recent elections;
- their ability to show actual involvement in the campaign: organizing public meetings, taking part in debates, granting of mandataire financier (trustee) power to a person, and, generally, any endeavour to bring the candidate's platform to the public's attention.
The principle of equality is specific to the presidential campaign. It derives directly from laws and regulations relating to the election of the Président de la République providing for equality between candidates as from the start of the official campaign. Under the principle of equality, candidates and their advocates must be granted equal speaking and air time.
B- Editorial Rules relating to Campaign Treatment
The Conseil's recommendation includes provisions requiring restraint and fairness to prevail in editorial treatment and use of extracts of candidates' statements. In addition, up until the starting date of the official campaign period, reporters or commentators who are also candidates are allowed on the air, provided their comments have no effect likely to violate equality of the candidates with respect to means of communicating their views or fairness of the poll. As from the start of the official campaign, and up until the end of the election, they must refrain from appearing on television or speaking on the radio as part of their work as reporters or commentators.
C- Other Provisions
The deliberation of 4 July 2011 includes other provisions, in particular:
- access to broadcasts for those deaf or hearing-impaired: the main national off-air channels are under obligation to provide enhanced access for those deaf or hearing-impaired to the main programmes dealing with election news during peak audience hours (by means of sub-titling or sign language). Television channels with an annual average audience higher than 2.5% of the total audience must provide access to all programmes dealing with election news.
- regarding the day preceding the election and the day of the election: comments relating to, the election, opinion polls, and election results, may not be broadcast on the day preceding the election or on the day of the election, up until closing of the polling stations. These provisions derive, in particular, from the electoral code.
7
Political Pluralism during Non-Election Periods
TELEVISION AND RADIO
The Conseil is charged with ensuring plurality in trends of thoughts and opinions expressed on television and radio services, and, in particular, in political and general-interest news shows. To this end, it has adopted several decisions to guarantee effective political pluralism on the air.
Since 1September 2009, the Conseil has set forth several rules working under the « principle of political pluralism ».
In practice, their aim is to ensure that political speaking times are in proportion with national democratic trends, taking into account statements by the Président de la République that are part of the nation's political conversation given their content and the context.
Change of Approach in July 2009
For a long time, the Conseil applied the three-thirds rule (modified in 2000 and in 2006) to ensure balance of representation between the majority in Parliament, the Government, and the opposition in Parliament, and to also ensure fair access to the air for parties with no elected members in Parliament and parties with elected members in Parliament that are neither in the majority nor in the opposition.
In 2009, the French Conseil d’Etat requested the Conseil to take into account statements by the Président de la République which were part of the national political conversation given their content and the context (i.e., the approach is also qualitative in relation to speaking time by the Head of State.)
On 21 July 2009, a new approach was adopted in order to ensure compliance with the principle of political pluralism.
Its main feature is the computation of speaking time by Président de la République where the Président's statements deal with the nation's political conversation. The corresponding time is added to the speaking time of other political figures of the "bloc majoritaire" (members of the administration, presidential aides, members of the majority elected to the French Assemblée nationale or Sénat).
The opposition in Parliament must be granted at least half of their aggregate time. In addition, the Conseil continues to ensure that parties that are not represented in Parliament and parties in Parliament that are neither in the majority nor in the opposition get fair access to the air.
All editors of radio and television services must comply with the Conseil's rules, except for radios d'opinion (highly-themed—generally politically-oriented—radio stations in extremely limited numbers.)
Among them, i-Télé, LCI and BFM TV, France Inter, France Info, France culture, Europe 1, RTL, BFM, RMC and Radio Classique, are under obligation to compute speaking times of political figures interviewed in their programmes, and forward the numbers to the Conseil on a monthly basis. Accuracy of the forwarded data may be checked at the Conseil at a later stage by a team of monitors using software tools. For television channels whose audience is approximately 70%—TF1, France 2, France 3, Canal + (for its free-to-air programmes), and M6—the Conseil also computes speaking times, and compares the results with the data forwarded by the channels. The computation is done by a team of "monitors" on the day following broadcasting of the programmes.
In all instances, the Conseil reviews compliance with political pluralism over a sufficiently long period so as to even out the impact of news. Monitoring is done on a quarterly basis for news hours and segments, and on a semestrial basis for magazines and other kinds of programmes.
