In France, representative democracy is experiencing a growing mistrust that also affects the media. The latter are facing major simultaneous challenges:.
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2Ł it is aligned with the opposition between political actors and the institutions they represent (Fox News opposes CNN in the same way that Donald Trump opposes Hillary Clinton); Ł this phenomenon of polarization has been emphasized by the emergence of new media to the right of the political spectrum. For example, the media Breitbart has pushed Fox News much further to the right ideologically (the American polarization is therefore asymmetrical: right-wing media have moved away from the center more than left-wing media have). Polarization in France In this study, we mapped the structure of the French media space in order to measure its potential polarization and evaluate the influence of social networks on this structure. Here are the main conclusions:Ł the polarization of the French media space is unfolding on a vertical axis opposing institutio -nalists to those who could be considered fianti-elitesfl;Ł it does not take place within the traditional media space (traditional media such as Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro, Les Echos, L™Obs, etc.), but between this traditional space and new media that can be considered fipartisanfl (such as Les Crises, Egalité et Réconciliation, Fdesouche, Sputnik, etc.), which are situated outside this space and express opinions against the elites. Indeed, Œ the French media space remains structured around a central fiCorefl composed of the main newspapers, websites, radio and TV channels; Œ this fiCorefl is composed of left- and right-wing media (from Libération to Le Figaro );Œ while all media refer to this fiCorefl, including media that could be considered fipartisanfl, the fiCorefl almost never refers to media that are outside the «Core». Ł the polarization of the French media space is less aligned with that of political actors than in the United States, due to the multiplicity of political actors in France; Ł the polarization is likely to be emphasized by the emergence of new partisan media (see below). Studying the structure of the French media ecosystem In order to map the French media space, we analyzed how media cite each other, by counting the number and looking at the direction of citations in their articles (a ficitationfl is a URL link present in an article and redirecting to another media). This analysis allowed us to identify four media groups, with different behaviors, that structure the French media space: Ł Core media: a set of publications that are widely cited by other media categories, but which rarely cite them in return (Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, Le Parisien, 20 Minutes, Les Echos, etc.).Ł Ring media: a set of publications that cite the Core and Satellite media. They are sometimes cited by the Core (Russia Today, Fdesouche, Valeurs actuelles, Sputnik, etc.).Ł Satellite media: a set of publications that widely cite all other media groups but that are never cited in return (Les Crises, Egalité et Réconciliation, Fawkes News, etc.)Ł Niche media: a set of local papers and magazines that receive some attention from other media categories (local press and specialized magazines)
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3The yellow vests, an example of polarization fià la françaiseflBy analyzing 65,000 articles from a corpus of 391 media over a period from September 2018 to February 2019, the Sciences Po Médialab highlighted the main themes in the coverage of the yellow vests movement. The maps obtained show a clear distinction regarding the importance different media groups give to these themes: Ł it appears that Core media were mainly concerned with the consequences of the social move-ment for the government, political parties, and the police; Ł the issue of the yellow vests™ values and demands was prioritized by Satellite and Ring media.Changes at work with social networks and the emergence of new parti -san mediaIf France does not experience a polarization similar to the one observed in the United States, it seems to be due to the relationships existing between Core media. They regularly cite each other, rarely cite partisan actors outside their sphere, and seem to share common practices and values, as the CrossCheck initiative during the 2017 presidential campaign showed. However, this does not mean that the media space is protected against more profound changes. Institut Montaigne has thus noted four major factors of evolution: 1. social networks have given rise to a conversational space that, via network effects and virality, increasingly influences the traditional media space. In concrete terms, information made popular on Twitter can now be recycled by fitraditionalfl media; 2. new media that could be considered partisan quickly gain in audience and influence (such as Russia Today, Fdesouche, Sputnik, etc.);3. some links exist between right-wing partisan media (Fdesouche, Sputnik, Russia Today) and satellite media (Français de France, La Presse Galactique, WikiSTrike, Stop Mensonges). The former cites the latter, thus making visible doubtful information that otherwise receives little attention; 4. polarizing polemicists act as filaunderingfl agents when they highlight disinformation produced by such media. These changes may, in the long term, have an impact on the Core media, as has been observed in the United States.
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5SUMMARY INTRODUCTION 7I – A LOOK AT MEDIA ENVIRONMENTS 9 1.1. A global loss of trust in a deteriorating informational space 91.1.1. Distrusted institutions 91.1.2. Distrusted media 101.1.3. Distrusted social networks 111.1.4. A multifaceted crisis 13 1.2. A new approach to the circulation of information 131.2.1. Social media as technological scapegoats 131.2.2. fiFake newsfl: a convenient buzzword 14 1.3. A holistic approach to the media ecosystem 14II – THE FRENCH MEDIA ECOSYSTEM 17 2.1. Questions and methodology 17 2.2. Two layers to map the French digital media space 182.2.1. The Structure: how French media quote one another 182.2.2. The Influence: how media are cited by individual users on Twitter 242.2.2.1. Visibility on Twitter 282.2.2.2. Circulation according to political figure partisans 292.2.2.3. Thematic analysis of the propagation of information on Twitter 312.2.3. Interactions between the Structure and the Influence 332.2.4. The Conversation: a third layer to consider 34III – INTERPRETATION: TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE FRENCH MEDIA ECOSYSTEM 35 3.1. Dynamics of digital media spaces 363.1.1. Social media and polarization 363.1.2. Social media and the conversational agenda 373.1.3. First scientific study: polarization in the United States 37 3.2. Dynamics of the French media ecosystem 383.2.1. The behavior of traditional media encourages the circulation of shared values 393.2.2. Some growing feedback loops 393.2.3. The media™s interactions with a multipolar political system 403.2.4. The rise of new strongly politicized media 403.2.5. A risk of fossilization of traditional media 413.2.6. A risk of vertical polarization (institutionalists vs. anti-elites) 41 3.3. From theory to practice: the Yellow Vests movement 423.3.1. Late media reactions to the events 433.3.2. A variety of topics addressed 433.3.3. A different coverage of the events by different groups of media 46
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