A large map of Ukraine is displayed in the open office of Bastien Morassi, editorial director of LCI. A little further on, on his desktop computer, Thomas Misrachi, a senior reporter who has covered the war in Ukraine five times and is preparing to return there in August, carefully studies a detailed map of the front line.

Back at the channel’s headquarters between two reports on Ukrainian soil, Charline Hurel tells how these perilous journeys are prepared, details the protective measures taken, the meticulous inspection of the equipment. The necessary complicity with his image reporter, not to mention the long “debrief” sessions on returning from missions. “We tell each other everything, and it is necessary! The editor-in-chief has complete confidence in the field reporters, she says. In a year and a half, no one has ever imposed a subject on me. »

For seventeen months, LCI has been covering this conflict with multiple consequences on a massive scale. At least one reporting team is present on site each week. In the well-identified formats that punctuate the air, especially in the afternoon and evening, from “Club Le Chatelier” (3 p.m. to 6 p.m.) to “Brunet, Hammett

Stereotypes

An assumed editorial choice, which could seem risky in the long term but ultimately pays off. People are not interested in international news, they would have little attention span, especially on a continuous news channel… These two received ideas have been swept away in a few months.

Because the massive coverage of the conflict has significantly increased both the audience (2.4% today, 3.1% for BFMTV and 2.2% for CNews in May) and the listening time – with in particular a record average of forty-two minutes recorded in the week of June 19–25 (where Wagner threatened Moscow).

Another surprise is the significant increase in the audience of 25-49 year olds. “We make the issues accessible by teaching and refusing dramatization”, sums up David Pujadas who, in his daily program, takes care to clearly expose the facts before the debates begin, led by experts, military or not. .

Weight of the parent company

Didier François, war reporter turned columnist on LCI, insists on “the balance between the pedagogy of experienced observers, the precision of the high-level military experts present on the sets and the courage of the reporting teams in the field”. Fabien Namias, deputy general manager of LCI welcomes the weight of the parent company. “Without the material assistance of TF1, this massive coverage of the conflict by LCI would not have been possible. »

“At the start of the conflict, all the newsrooms covered the subject thoroughly,” he recalls. Then time passed. At LCI, we have decided to make this conflict our top priority, regardless of its duration. Even at the heart of the campaign for the French presidential election [in 2022], Ukraine came first. »

LCI (La Chaîne Info) has not, however, become LCU (La Chaîne Ukraine). It does not hide the rest of the news: the pension reform occupied 30% of the airtime between January and February. But the conflict in Ukraine remains, by far, the major subject. With the advantage of leaving time for the debates, which are not interrupted by news as on other continuous news channels.

” A radical change “

Seventeen months after the Russian invasion, the editor-in-chief of LCI is still convinced of the merits of this editorial choice. “I don’t sense audience fatigue. Everyone is aware that we are experiencing a radical change, with concrete economic implications in our lives, “said Thierry Thuillier, deputy director general of information for the TF1 group.

Arrived in August 2016, the latter recalls that he first took care to “break the ‘Berlin Wall’ that existed between the editorial staff of TF1 and LCI! Over time, we have built a device that today allows editorial consistency and complete coverage of the Ukrainian conflict. One example among many? Jérôme Garro, correspondent in Moscow who is very valuable in explaining the state of mind on the Russian side, works for both antennas.

“Thanks to social networks, we have never shown the war so much. The strength of LCI is both to show what war really is, to analyze it and to reflect on it, ”said Catherine Jentile, editorial writer. A very visible war. “In Afghanistan, in Iraq, 100% of the images were controlled, recalls Thomas Misrachi. Today, social networks send images in droves. Images taken by drones, fighting even in the trenches. But these images must be carefully checked and deciphered before showing them. What we do. »