Medias and far right », this is the title of the conference-debate organized Thursday December 5 from 7 p.m. by Carmagnole, exceptionally relocated to the Pelloutier room in Montpellier.
For approximately 2 hours, The Marseillaise will be present around the table to debate and answer questions from the public in the company of Carine Fouteau (president and director of publication of Mediapart), Mathieu Molard (co-editor-in-chief of the independent news site StreetPressauthor of investigations into the far right), Stéphane Ortega (Balance of power) et Elian Barascud (The Fist).
If the current political instability, with an RN made master of the game by Emmanuel Macron, would in itself justify an exchange, this Carmagnole debate finds its source upstream. « We organized several conferences linked to the far right, with political scientists in particular, and we said to ourselves that it would be interesting to also discuss media treatment »explains Boris Chenaud.
There is so much to say locally, nationally or internationally at a time when far-right ideas are becoming so commonplace that they are spreading their tentacles election after election. The organizers recall that the far right, which has always remained close to big business, is waging an insidious cultural battle which aims to delegitimize anti-capitalist speeches, while claiming to be against the liberal Europe of Brussels, in order to appear concerned by the problems of artisans, farmers or rural areas. Fantasizing a so-called “wokism”, the far right is also working to marginalize progressive left-wing speeches and goes so far as to criminalize environmental activists.
The undermining work carried out on social networks, some of which are in their hands (like X with Elon Musk) as well as the concentration of the press in the hands of a handful of billionaires, contribute to accelerating the dissemination of far-right thought, less and less taboo. « The problem goes beyond Cnews and company. Many media outlets have their agenda dictated to them, stick to their current reading grid, use the subjects, words and codes of the extreme right »worries Boris Chenaud.
A little music which is gradually infusing into a majority of media, like the choice to exaggerate news items such as the assassination of Thomas Crépol, exploited by the identity bloc. « There is a risk of a halo effect on certain politicized news items. This is the sweet spot for the extreme right ».
Faced with the reality of this new environment, how can we deconstruct the misleading discourse of the far right? How can we fight against this cultural and political offensive? What is the responsibility of independent media in this fight? The debate promises to be rich and fascinating.
