It was their last day at the helm of their respective programs. On his way to host LCI’s morning show at the start of the school year, Jean-Baptiste Boursier presented his final show on BFMTV on Sunday evening, not without slipping a personal message to viewers. “I won’t take you a lot of time, but I wanted to say a word. Thank you for your presence (…) Allow me just to thank from the bottom of my heart the editorial staff of BFMTV, that of RMC Sport with which I spent some incredible moments (…) I have a special thought for those who physically accompanied for a few years now”. And to add “Beautiful summer, it was too good and see you soon! Ciao. »
On the side of France 2, Julia Vignali, who leaves Telematin For Deal donethanked the public for having “accepted her at their breakfast table” and took the opportunity to pass the baton to her successor: “I leave with a light heart and I leave you with the excellent journalist Marie Portolano who ate the same cakes as me [une référence à l’émission de M6 Le Meilleur pâtissier qu’elles ont toutes deux animée]. But it shows less on her. Samuel Etienne, who gave up the orders for the morning show of franceinfo, spoke of “an incredible adventure”. Without forgetting the farewells of Emilie Tran Nguyen, Carole Gaessler and Catherine Matausch following the suppression of the national editions of 12/13 and 19/20 by France 3 at the start of the school year.
“A moment of emotion… It works on TV”
But, deep down, why is it important to say goodbye? Virginie Spies, semiologist and TV analyst, considers that it is already for the journalist because his show is his brand. It also advances the argument of proximity. “We are attached to journalists and animators, we feel closer to them than other famous people, so it is quite important, she believes. It’s also a moment of emotion, there are tears, bouquets of flowers… And emotion works on TV. These are moments of sincerity.
Accustomed to disappearing behind the information, the journalist changes register by saying his farewells. Do his words have any special value? “Yes, they say “I” and it’s very rare, observes Virginie Spies. There, we expect something from them, that they express themselves in the first person. It is also an opportunity to see their editorial colleagues join them, moved. We see the human that we do not see so often in the context of TV presentations. »
The semiologist also places herself from the point of view of the chain. “For her too, it’s important because it gets people talking about her, often in a positive way, apart from France 3 with Catherine Matausch – the ad was sent before the end of her farewell. But the France 2 newscast took over to fix things. She continues: “It’s air time that we will see afterwards, elsewhere, for free on sites, Twitter, everywhere. So it talks about the brand and the identity of the channel. »
Two channels, two atmospheres
The importance attached to his farewells also tells us about the bond maintained with the public. “TV personalities are still very popular with the French, you just have to do with Jean-Pierre Pernaut. When he left the newspaper, it was not a 3-minute farewell, it was a special newscast with everyone, his children and immense emotion throughout the country, ”recalls Virginie Spies.
So what do you think when a channel prevents a journalist from saying goodbye to viewers? When Marie-Sophie Lacarrau accepts, in September 2020, to succeed Jean-Pierre Pernaut at 1 p.m. on TF1 while she is presenting the same edition on France 2, the public service channel immediately removes her from the antenna and the replaced by Nathanaël de Rincquesen.
“I wish I could have done this Friday newspaper [18 septembre 2020] to say goodbye to viewers. For four years, we had woven something” had poured out the journalist to 20 minutes. For Virginie Spies, there is no doubt: “It’s a bad point for the broadcaster in the end not to give him the opportunity to express himself. We see that the journalists presenters of 1 p.m. or 8 p.m. carry the entire identity of the channel. And that deserves a proper goodbye.