Key Benefits:
The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel,
Vu le Electoral code ;
Vu la Act No. 77-808 of 19 July 1977 amended on the publication and dissemination of certain opinion polls, including article 11;
In light of Act No. 82-652 of 29 July 1982 amended on audiovisual communication, including its article 6 ;
In light of Act No. 86-1067 of 30 September 1986 on freedom of communication, including its articles 1, 13, 14, 16 and 28 ;
Vu la Act No. 2005-102 of 11 February 2005 for equal rights and opportunities, participation and citizenship of persons with disabilities;
After deliberating it,
Adopts the following recommendation, applicable to all television and radio services:
This recommendation applies effective February 1, 2010. The board appreciates the fair presentation and access to the lists of candidates and their support from that date and to the close of the ballot.
It does not apply to television and radio services with specific content of the electoral propaganda of the lists of candidates or their support and exclusively accessible via the internet.
1. Treatment of news
1.1. Election-related news
1° When dealing with a specific electoral district, television and radio services ensure that the lists of candidates and their support are provided with fair presentation and access to the antenna.
2° When the electoral process exceeds the electoral framework of an electoral district, television and radio services ensure that political parties and groups with lists of candidates and their support receive fair presentation and access to the antenna.
3° The records, comments and presentations to which the elections are held must be presented with a constant concern for measurement and honesty. Television and radio services also ensure that the choice of extracts from the statements and written statements of candidates and their support, as well as the comments to which they may give rise, do not distort the general meaning.
4° In accordance with the jurisprudence of the Council of State, the possible interventions of the President of the Republic which, because of their content and context, fall under the political debate related to the elections, in particular those which include the expression of support for a list of candidates, a party or political grouping, are the subject of a separate statement. Editors take this into account by ensuring that the other lists, parties or political groups benefit, in return, from equitable access to the antenna.
5° Interventions by persons other than those belonging to political parties or groups presenting lists of candidates or their support must respect the principles mentioned in the 3rd. The invitation program of these people must be balanced.
6° With respect to non-information program programs, it is recommended to avoid election-related interventions if the principles mentioned in 1 and 2° cannot be respected.
7° Television services ensure that the origin of the images is systematically indicated when they do not emanate from the publisher itself.
8° Television and radio services ensure that the use of audio-visual archives with images or words of public figures:
― does not give rise to montages or uses that may distort the initial meaning of the document;
or systematically matched with the mention of their source and date.
1.2. Events not related to the election
With respect to the coverage of news not related to the election, television and radio services continue to apply the deliberation no 2009-60 of 21 July 2009 of the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel on the principle of political pluralism.
For current events not related to the election, candidates' invitations must be linked to the needs of current events.
2. Summary of interventions
2.1. Respondents of candidates' interventions and their support
2.1.1. Relevated by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel
The Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel establishes a count of the candidate's speaking times and antenna times and their support on the antennas of the following television services:
TF 1;
France 2;
France 3 for its national programme;
Canal+ for its clear program;
- M 6.
2.1.2. Reported by television service publishers
and transmitted to the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel
Each week, the following television service publishers transmit to the Conseil Supérieur de l'audiovisuel the statements of the candidates' time and their support on their antenna:
France 3 for its regional or local programs;
France 5 for the entire program;
― Réseau France overseas for its regional programmes and for France Ô;
LCI;
- i1tele;
BFM TV.
2.1.3. Obligations regarding other television service publishers
Other television services, including local television services, shall, at the request of the Commission, communicate to the Superior Council of Audiovisual all the elements relating to the time of the candidates and their support.
2.1.4. Returns by radio service editors
Each week, the following radio service publishers transmit to the Superior Council of Audiovisual the statements of the candidate's time and their support on their antenna:
BFM;
Europe 1;
- Classic Radio;
― Radio France (France Info, France Inter, France Culture, France Musique, radios locale de France Bleu) ;
― Réseau France overseas;
- RMC;
- RTL.
2.1.5. Obligations regarding other radio service publishers
The other radio services shall communicate to the Conseil Supérieur de l'audiovisuel, at its request, all elements relating to the time of the candidates and their support.
2.2. Transmission of other information
Radio and television services provide the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel, at its request, with all necessary information, in particular for the instruction of the referrals to it.
The services referred to in 2.1 shall keep video or audio recordings of the broadcasts broadcast during the period covered by the recommendation available to the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel.
3. Accessibility of programs to deaf or hearing impaired persons
The services mentioned in 2.1.1. as well as France 4 and France 5 are required to ensure the access (by captioning or sign language) of the deaf or hearing impaired to the programs devoted to electoral news.
Other television services are required to promote access (by captioning or sign language) of persons who are deaf or hearing impaired to major electoral news programs at high hearing times. In particular, they strive to make accessible the retransmission of debates between candidates.
4. Collaborators of candidate television and radio services
Until the opening date of the official election campaign, the employees of the television and radio services who would be candidates ensure that their possible interventions on the air or on the screen could not have any impact that would undermine the equality of candidates before the means of propaganda and the sincerity of the ballot.
These same employees refrain from appearing on the air or speaking on the waves in the exercise of their function from the opening of the official campaign and until the close of the ballot.
5. Recall of legal obligations
5.1. Advertising
In accordance with section 14 of the Act of 30 September 1986, broadcast or television commercials of a political nature are prohibited.
Television and radio services ensure that, with regard to advertising in favour of the press sector, they do not broadcast advertising messages that distort the sincerity of the ballot.
It is likely to be considered such advertising messages with references, verbal or visual, to candidates or to polling issues.
Radio services as well as television services distributed by networks that do not use frequencies assigned by the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel ensure that they do not broadcast advertising messages in favour of literary works whose author is directly concerned by the election of regional advisors and advisers to the Assembly of Corsica or whose title or content are related to the issues of this election.
5.2. Electoral propaganda
In accordance with second paragraph of Article L. 49 of the Electoral Code, from the day before the election at 0 o'clock, it is prohibited to broadcast or disseminate any message that is of an electoral propaganda to the public electronically.
In accordance withArticle L. 52-1 of the Electoral Code, the use for election purposes of any commercial advertising process by any means of audiovisual communication is prohibited for the three months preceding the first day of the polling month, and no advertising campaign for the accomplishments or management of a community can be organized in the territory of the communities interested in the election from the first day of the sixth month preceding the election.
In accordance withArticle L. 52-2 of the Electoral Code, no result of the election, either partial or final, may be communicated to the public, by any means of communication to the public by electronic means in metropolis, before the closure of the last polling station on the metropolitan territory. The same is true in overseas departments before the closing of the last polling station in each of the departments concerned.
In the metropolis and overseas departments, the radio and television services refrain from broadcasting any elements that might indicate the outcome of the poll before the closing of the last polling station.
Television services dealing with electoral news on polling day on the metropolitan territory inlay on screen the hour, in the second near, no later than five minutes before the closing of the last polling station.
5.3. Polls
Pursuant to section 11 of the Act of 19 July 1977, the broadcast and commentary of any poll that has a direct or indirect relationship with the consultation is prohibited by any means on the day before and on the day of the poll.
5.4. Right of reply
Pursuant to section 6 of the Act of 29 July 1982, radio and television services are required, if any, to implement the right of reply.
5.5. Case Law of the Election Judge
Television and radio services ensure respect for the principles set out in the electoral judge's jurisprudence. In particular, they ensure that they do not disseminate defamatory, abusive, false or new elements of electoral controversy, on a date or under conditions that make an impossible or inoperative response.
This recommendation will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done in Paris, December 8, 2009.
For the Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel :
The president,
Mr. Boyon
