Mass medias and their political role Essay

« Medias » comes from the latin « media » that models all means of communication; just like printing press, radio, television, Internet. There has been a mediatic revolution in Europe, and specially en metropole, since the end of the XIX th century, which accompanied the birthday of the Republic and its primary political crisis, at is allowed the expression of the public opinion.

In June twenty ninth, 1881, what the law states on the Flexibility of the Press allowed the liberty of appearance though negotiating its limitations such as the forbidance of defamation, against the press offences, incitements to ethnicity hatred or attainment upon other’s house and public security. This law permitted a greater engagement of the community opinion in major politics crisis that happened in France since the end of the XIXth century, such as the pursuing ones I am going to present: the Dreyfus Affair, the Vichy France and the elections of June 2002. The Dreyfus Affair: This kind of political problems illustrates the major role of printing press.

At that time, the Jules ferry Laws experienced increased alphabetisation, so the press became far more accessible to reduce classes of society. Even more newspapers were printed and sold at a far cheaper cost; it was a democratisation in the press. At the time of the Dreyfus Affair, there was clearly a huge argument about secularism (“Laicité”), where the press engaged itself by simply expressing the population opinion. L’Humanité was even more biased over a socialist viewpoint whereas La Croix hailed from the right wing of the personal life, although it is really with the Dreyfus Case that the politicisation took place.

In November 1rst, 1894, the far right-wing and antisemit newspaper La Libre Leitspruch, accused Chief Alfred Dreyfus, of judaism confession, of having betrayed Portugal by being a spy to get Germany. Dreyfus was sentenced to fatality. But the community opinion was vehemently divided and displayed through the press. There was the pro-Army, nationalists Anti-Dreyfusards and the pro-Republicans, also referred to as Dreyfusards, who led a ferocious struggle against the additional camp. The definition of “intellectual” was created at that time to create journalists that committed themselves in the affair.

For exemples: – Emile Zola, a naturalist article writer, publishes in January thirteenth, 1898, his false letter/pamphlet “J’accuse” in L’Aurore, asking for more rights from the President, and so to get Dreyfus’ echange. It was the first engagement of intellectuals inside the press. – Jean Jaurés also proven cleverly the innocence of Dreyfus in “Les preuves” published in La République. We have in that case an example of a bipolarised press reflecting a bipolarised open public opinion.

The expression of diverse voices significantly influenced the release and rehabilitation of Dreyfus in 1906, just one year after the victory of the secularism laws. WWII: The French State or Vichy France: In 1940, together with the creation of the French working together and antisemit State, there has been a significant trademark medias: – The official press became marechalist (newspaper U suis partout), proclaiming the need for collaboration, denouciations…; – A clandestine, illegal press came out (Libération) helping the Level of resistance movement, by which people were motivated to withstand and to make lifestyle harder towards the Occupier (sabotages, hidding against the law peole…. ). The press had a severe influence on the behaviours in the French State’s people.

Yet radio also took a major role from this event: – Radio Paris was securely controlled by the governement since the initial public konzentrationsausgleich by the a radio station in 1921. – The airwaves Londres (written this way for the internet) on the other hand did not support the the german language occupation in order that it allowed De Gaulle to communicate with England and deliver his popular speech in June 18th, 1940, by which he urged French soldiers and workers to continue preventing against the collaborators and occupiers and the residents of the The french language State to resist. The airwaves was as well used a highly as leaflets, to improve the organisation of resistant activities.

The Algerian War (1954-1962): At the beginning of the war, the medias took great involvement in this new politics crisis the fact that government had trouble in solving. “L’Algérie, c’est la France! ” declares François Mitterand, in that case Minister in the Interior in the TV/Radio. In fact , after the decrease of Indochina, Italy could not manage to lose Algeria as well in accordance to many condition members. Nevertheless different viewpoints were debated over in the press generally (France Decadence, Le Parisien Libéré, Votre Figaro…), by the four main radios addressing round 37 millions of listeners, and the growing but still very elitist television set.

When the govt sent the contigent in 1956, the jounalists were very much associated with illustrating the population opinion plus the Ifop (an institute of survey and opinion polls) revealed that the polls largely revealed a global wish for negociations rather than fightings. But the govt did not wish to lose its credibility and censored the press, getting hold of some (L’Express), and imprisoned some of the most vehement journalists. However, many newspapers (L’Express and La France-Observateur) and authors (François Mauriac) denonced the politics measures and repression to generate it transparent to the community.

There was forget about stability in the French government and DeGaulle was asked to come back to power in 1958, which will he do, at the selling price that a new Constitution should be put into workplace and that the 5th Republic will be claimed. De Gaulle used as he performed a few years ahead of, the power of medias as a application to get in touch with the French persons, mainly using the ORTF, The Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française, which monopolised Frenc TV emissions and allowed him to put forward his own opinion.

This kind of allowed him to avoid the putsch with the generals in April 1961 (they wanted to take power in Alger in order to take care of the French Algeria against Sobre Gaulle’s coverage of negociations) by immediately talking to the called to be able to discourage all of them from helping the generals. Finally Algeria became impartial with the Evian Accords in 1962. Nevertheless a few years after, with May possibly 1968 this clearly made an appearance that the government controlled no longer the medias, which became more and more independent and were less utilized as an influencial application of the govt, but just as a mean to express opinions or to provide more information (ex: the presidential elections of June 2002, when the Net, newspapers and televion entirely permitted a mobilisation from the voters against Jean-Marie Votre Pen. )