Report on the epresentation of French society in the audiovisual media - Fiscal year 2021 and actions 2022

Image d'illustration pour les études.

Published on 19 July 2022

  • Barometer
  • Representation
  • Television
  • Radio
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Arcom reports annually to Parliament on the actions of television and radio service editors in terms of the epresentation of French society and the fight agains discrimination, as well as the actions it has taken.

Introduction

In accordance with article 3-1 of law no. 86-1067 of September 30, 1986, supplemented by law no. 2017-86 of January 27, 2017 on equality and citizenship, the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Arcom) must report annually to Parliament on the actions of television and radio service editors in promoting social diversity and fighting agains discrimination, as well as on the actions it has taken.

To this end, since 2009, Arcom has produced an annual "barometer of the representation of French society", a measurement tool that provides a snapshot at a given moment of the representation of diversity on TV screens. The results of the barometer also enable broadcasters, on a regular basis, to have a precise idea of the image they project of society, and thus to better feed their airwaves with diverse people and programs representative of social diversity, without doing so on an event-driven basis.

At the same time, on November 10, 2009, Arcom adopted a deliberation aimed at promoting the representation of diversity in French society in the programming of national free-to-air channels and Canal+ (Appendix 1). This requires editors' commitments in terms of social diversity to be made to Arcom every year, and sets out how these commitments are to be monitored. In the event of any shortcomings, and in particular in the light of the results of the epresentation of French society barometer, editors' commitments may be strengthened.

This report begins with a review of Arcom's activities over the past year. It then looks ahead to the epresentation of French society on screens in 2021, putting it into perspective with the commitments made in this area by editors' commitment.

Key figures

Perceived origin

People perceived as "non-white" were less represented on television in 2021 (14% vs. 16% in 2020).

Their presence is particularly weak on all-news channels, where they account for just 10% of those indexed.

Representation by attitude

While people seen as "non-white" have a higher proportion of negative roles (22%) than positive roles (18%), their proportion in hero roles is higher than that of people seen as "white".

43% of people with negative connotations in news programmes are seen as "non-white".

Representation of women

The presence of women on television is stable (39%). Their proportion is higher on the historical channels (44%).

Representation of disability

The representation of disability remains marginal: only 0.8% of the total individuals indexed in 2021 are disabled.

This result is particularly disappointing given that one of the two weeks indexed was marked by the Duoday operation. The human resources policies of audiovisual media companies, increasingly favorable to the inclusion of disabled people within their organizations, are not matched on screen.

Representation in a confinement situation

The results of the barometer show that the confinement situation experienced in April 2021 had no significant impact, either quantitative or qualitative, on the state of social representations on television.

The increase in the number of people in precarious situations (1.1%, i.e. an additional 0.3 points compared to the 0.8% figure for the non-confinement period) remains well below the realities of society.

Representation by place of residence

Television portrays a very urban image of society, albeit with some imbalances:

Inhabitants of historic city centers are largely represented (65%), while those living in the suburbs are less well represented (4%). Village dwellers account for 13% of people on screen (down three points on 2020).

Representation by age

The underrepresentation of older people and youngsters persists in 2021:

the over-65s represent 5% of the indexed population, despite being the largest age segment in France. This is even more the case for women, whose representation decreases considerably as of the age of 50 (40% of indexed women are between 35 and 49, 15% between 50 and 64). Youngsters account for 10%.

Representation by socio-professional category

The socio-professional categories represented on screen still don't reflect reality :

higher socio-professional categories (CSP+) are over-represented (75%) to the detriment of lower socio-professional categories (CSP-), represented at 10%, and the economically inactive (15%).

The results of the barometer show that the containment situation experienced in April 2021 has had no significant impact, either quantitative or qualitative, on the state of social representations on television. The increase in the number of people in precarious situations (1.1%, i.e. an additional 0.3 points compared with the 0.8% figure for the non-confinement period) remains well below the realities of society.

Study scope

The 2021 barometer was produced as of broadcast:

  • 19 DTT channels (TF1; TMC; TFX; France 2; France 3; France 4; France 5; France info: ; M6; W9; Canal+; C8; CStar; CNews; BFM TV; LCI; NRJ 12; Gulli; RMC Story);
  • 2 weeks of programming for the out-of-containment period: January 25 to 31 and November 15 to 21, 2021;
  • one week of programming, from April 5 to 11, 2021, during which a period of confinement related to the Covid-19 pandemic was declared;
  • in the 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. time segments (any program with more than 50% of its duration between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. being indexed in its entirety);
  • midday news programmes on channels that show them (TF1, France 2, France 3, M6, C8);
  • according to 7 criteria: origin, gender, disability, precariousness, professional category, age, place of residence.

This indexing work involved :

  • Over 2,900 news programmes (around 1,800 hours), including 662 drama programmes (over 466 hours), 955 news programmes (around 548 hours), over 717 magazine/documentary programmes (around 412 hours), over 521 entertainment programmes (around 334 hours) and over 79 sports broadcasts (over 42 hours);
  • more than 64,000 people.

A more detailed methodology of the study can be found in Appendix 2 of the report, available for downloading below.

The epresentation of French society on television and radio - Fiscal year 2021 and actions 2022

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