Those responsible for the show “Quotidien”, by Yann Barthès, broadcast on the TMC channel, assumed not to invite any member of the National Rally (RN) on set, Wednesday March 27 in front of the deputies, arguing that the rules of The balance of speaking time was, despite this, “perfectly respected”.
Not inviting an RN manager on set is a “collective decision” and it is “linked to the way in which the editorial journalists experience the treatment inflicted on them by the RN”, assured producer Laurent Bon (Bangumi company). “The RN has been boycotting, discrediting and attacking the “Quotidien” teams for years,” added host and producer Yann Barthès. He criticized the far-right party for “forbidding” access to its meetings to the show’s journalists, victims, according to him, of “violence on the ground”.
Both were interviewed by the National Assembly's commission of inquiry into the allocation of digital terrestrial television (DTT) frequencies. They were accompanied by their journalist Julien Bellver and managers from TF1, the group to which TMC belongs. This hearing had been requested by the RN, which deplores not being invited on the “Quotidien” program, a request accepted by the president of the commission, Quentin Bataillon (Renaissance).
“I’m not going to tell you that I’m delighted to be there,” said Yann Barthès in the preamble. “All political sensitivities are expressed in the show” and the “legal framework” of the balance of speaking times is “perfectly respected”, added Ara Aprikian, number 2 of the TF1 group.
Speaking time is controlled by the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom), the regulator, globally, both on the sets and in the recorded sequences.
“It’s not the same level of quality when you can express yourself live,” reacted RN deputy Thomas Ménage, accusing “Quotidien” of being “the only program from the PAF [French audiovisual landscape] which assumes exclude part of the political spectrum”.
