” What ? Didn’t we warn you that they didn’t want to talk to you? », we are told with bad faith that is difficult to conceal. Because yes, there were three of us journalists who went to Pas de Bellecombe last Thursday to meet influencers who had come for the environmental cause and animal protection. The reality was quite different. Obviously, they knew full well that we would not have gone up to the volcano if we knew that these “talents” were not going to talk to us. Not even for a “hello!” »
As my colleague from the JIR brilliantly noted, it was above all a communication stunt for the organizing company and its partner association. The “cleanwalk” ended quickly After three small trash bags were barely filled to justify their presence. Because the main mission was accomplished: take photos for their social networks and publicly display their virtue. The cause was only a pretext for a free stay on the island.
Were they afraid of our questions? Were they stressed about being asked what filter they used when taking photos of their food? Were they terrified to be asked if they used photoshop on their swimsuit photos? Because fundamentally, we didn’t know most of them and it’s obvious that we weren’t going to seek controversy. A controversy that they finally offered us.
Having found myself involved in animal protection against my will by taking in several abandoned puppies, I can thank all these volunteers (because yes, they are mainly women), for helping me find a positive solution for these furballs. . I was happy to warn them that I was going to write a paper to highlight their fight which could have had a different scope from those we usually do, nope.
Not there for the Reunionese
Because as my colleague pointed out, by despising the local media, it is the people of Reunion who are despised. They came for their virtual community and the island and its inhabitants are only there for the scenery. What happens here is of no interest to them if it is not Instagrammable. And behind the “thanks to the Reunion Islanders for their welcome”, who knows what is said once the cameras are turned off.
But we shouldn’t only blame influencers. There are still many personalities who come to the island without caring about the inhabitants and their problems once the photos are taken. The first example that comes to mind of all journalists on the island is the visit of Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne last year.
While the visit of a serving Prime Minister to Reunion Island is as rare as the number of hairs on my head, there is no doubt that this official visit was an opportunity to ask for answers on the problems facing the Reunion Islanders (cost of living , unemployment, housing, etc.). Unfortunately, we were ultimately not involved in this visit.
Indeed, between the sequences where only the national media were accredited and the cancellation of the microphones, we were just there to promote it, without being able to do our job like our colleagues in France. What a joy to then discover that the Prime Minister had been very talkative throughout the ministerial visit at the microphone of Quotidien de Yann Barthès during her visit, where she opened up on all subjects that did not concern Reunion. In short, this trip only served to be seen by the French electorate, but not for the people of Reunion.
Throw away your… contempt
2023 was also a prosperous year for these personalities who allow themselves to have a contemptuous attitude in Reunion. Although they obviously won’t say anything about it, the organizers of Sakifo must have a certain bitter taste when thinking about the last edition. While they managed to bring in Angèle, one of the biggest musical stars in the entire French-speaking world, the joy quickly turned into a soup of grimaces.
After the conditions imposed by the artist to come, the stab in the back was all the more brutal when his team announced to the Sakifo production and to the media that they could not make images of his concert. This just a few minutes before he went on stage and, obviously, not beforehand when the conditions of the trip had to be negotiated. Between our colleagues from Réunion Première who had to broadcast the event and the festival which lost its film of the event, the economic losses were enormous and the work of dozens of people fell through on a whim. There is no doubt that the Americans did not have the same problem during his appearance at the Coachella festival a few months earlier.
Because what these “personalities” must understand is that this attitude does not have the same resonance in Reunion, and more generally overseas, as in France. After the colonial past, the overseas territories have long suffered from being considered “second-class French”. If things develop favorably in this direction, this type of behavior brings back this feeling of contempt that we thought would disappear. Especially when these same people do not behave the same elsewhere and do not deprive themselves of playing paragons of virtue on Parisian TV sets. To avoid returning this image, it is nevertheless relatively simple and it often begins with a simple “Hello!” »
