2023-05-15 19:45:00
TRIBUNE/ANALYSIS – In politics, the statement is authoritative: it acts and formalizes. Performed from the Elysée or a television news set, the political appearance, classic of mass communication, solemnizes the words of the one who addresses at prime time to “fellow citizens” or “compatriots”, to “the Nation” or “the Republic”.
The appearance of a President or a Prime Minister, a Prefect of Police, a Spokesperson or a Director General of Health is orchestrated for the communication effect it produces in opinion, also for the media sequence it builds around the character staged in a decorum compatible with the screen of the show (stage, lectern, flag, surimp, slogan and hashtag of the day).
Substitute for political action, the official word that is staged by its announcement effect and the desire it creates in fact, acts on opinion like a placebo. So much so that having “strong words” and “strong words”, “strong messages” and “strong promises” are enough for political professionals to now persuade, reassure and convince: in other words, to win the approval and trust of the crowds.
In the civilization of verbiage, political words are logically perceived as actions. Emitted from the media-political platform, affirmation becomes action. On screen, saying has become synonymous with doing. In the era of ultracom’, the predatory word that reigns supreme has even replaced decision-making, the will to do and to undertake. From now on, to govern, it is enough to speak. And to govern well, to speak well. If possible, a lot!
At a time of hypercommunication and the ultrapersonalization of power, the appearance of the politician who cannibalizes the event is no longer exceptional, despite the repeated efforts by the communication advisers to us present as such. The time of the rarity of speech dear to Jacques Pilhan, theoretician of silence, is over. Now is the time for a permanent appearance as a mode of governance*.
At the center of all attention now, the politician, first on the event, took the place of first commentator on the news. Co-responsible for the permanent noise, this one is, basically, like the consultant, the presenter or the “expert”: on the screen, he appears and speaks. He aspires never to disappear.
In the era of the spectacle, politics is nothing more than appearance, staging and continuous noise. This overflowing activity, through images and words, gives “fellow citizens” or “compatriots” the illusion of action. To “the Nation” or to “the Republic”, this mass of words tends to give, ultimately, the illusion of decision.
* “24 televised speeches for a total of 6 hours, 8 minutes and 47 seconds, without opponent” (Release, April 19, 2023)
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