On Wednesday April 20, in the Plaine Saint-Denis studios, Gilles Bouleau, the presenter of the TF1 newscast, and Léa Salamé, who hosts the political program “Elysée 2022”, on France 2, will arbitrate the debate between two rounds of the presidential election. The two headliners must be formalized on Thursday April 14.
“This duo was offered by TF1 and France 2 on Sunday evening to the two candidatesexplains Laurent Guimier, the director of information for France Télévisions. We did not propose Anne-Sophie Lapix. My choice fell on Léa Salamé because she hosts our political programs. » A way to deny the rumors that Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron have vetoed the star presenter of “20 hours”.
Except that Anne-Sophie Lapix was part of the reflections upstream. But neither Marine Le Pen nor Emmanuel Macron wanted his presence, says a National Rally executive. Officially, Emmanuel Macron’s team denies sulking the journalist, but in the entourage of the head of state, his newspaper is considered too « critique » and “decline”.
“Equality and neutrality”
At France 2, speculation around the JT star, which arose after Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to participate in “Elysée 2022”, electrified the editorial staff. “Who are these candidates for the supreme office to flout (…) the independence of the public service? », was offended by the national union of journalists (SNJ) on Wednesday. The Society of Journalists immediately recalled that it is not up to the “politicians to choose the journalists who interview them”.
The candidates also had their say on the director. Marine Le Pen has expressed the desire to “renewing the genre”, specifies the director of information of TF1, Thierry Thuillier. In 2017, the program signed Tristan Carné had shown her rummaging through her files or reacting to the words of Emmanuel Macron by the famous mime ” They are there “.
This time, Didier Froehly will be in charge. By Wednesday, the two channels must also establish the specifications of the program, in order to respect a perfect “equality and neutrality”, specifies Thierry Thuillier. At the heart of the discussions, in particular, the famous cutting plans of the candidates, where we see each reacting to the words of his opponent.