This Wednesday, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on LCI, Christophe Beaugrand and Ruth Elkrief will host Elysée 2022, Place aux jeunes!, a debate bringing together young representatives of the parties of the main presidential candidates.
“I think it will be very interesting for [le public plus âgé] to see that young people have things to say, projects, want to get involved, contrary to the caricature that is often presented, says Christophe Beaugrand to 20 minutes. And then, we want to offer young people another way of seeing the political debate and other themes. »
“It’s part of my duty as a journalist to approach things differently, I may have fewer barriers and blinkers than some colleagues who have a slightly more classic vision of how to approach this profession. . I always look at the sidelines,” he adds.
“We are going to discover faces, personalities, who may be deputies, ministers, secretaries of state tomorrow”, promises Christophe Beaugrand who will be at the helm ofElysée 2022 – Make way for young people! this Wednesday, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on LCI. “The idea of getting young people to talk, of trying to interest another public in politics had been in my head for a while,” he explains to 20 minutes. It was he who proposed to the news channel of the TF1 group to organize this debate with eight young representatives of the main parties involved in the presidential race (see box). He will host the show with Ruth Elkrief. “She has all the experience and legitimacy and I have a slightly more offbeat and different tone,” he believes, hoping that this alchemy will “prompt a different energy and bring another audience on LCI. »
Who is the program for, young people or their elders who know them badly or little?
To everybody. It’s true that LCI’s traditional audience is over 20 years old, that’s a reality (laughs). I think it will be very interesting for older people to see that young people have things to say, projects, want to get involved, contrary to the caricature that we often present. The public tells us that they are tired of always seeing the same faces, so here we are going to see new faces and that can make things happen quite a bit. And then, we want to offer young people another way of looking at political debate and other themes – we chose them based on different studies from Ifop with which we are working for this program. What interests them is different from what is debated at the moment. Overall, it is a citizen program to ensure that everyone can express themselves, that people want to vote, that they realize that young people are taken into account in this election- the.
Do you think the young guests will avoid the language of wood and the elements of language?
I spoke to them all on the phone and I told them: I’m warning you, what interests us is to hear you speak differently, if it’s to bring out the language elements of dad and mom, if we have the he impression of hearing deputies who are in their fifth term, that immediately has much less interest. Some may be so passionate about politics that they get a little shaped and swallowed up in the language elements, but I think there is a word of truth that will come out. At first, it might be a little stuck, but once we get into the heat of the moment, in my opinion, everyone will find their natural. We’ll see what it will give, it’s a test. It will be live, we have no guarantee of anything.
Do you think this will attract a young audience that tends to turn away from television?
I would like. But beyond the number of viewers, what is certain is that the show will continue to live on social networks, via different excerpts from the debates and confrontations. I am convinced that it will turn out a lot. I know that each of our guests tries to mobilize their community. They may think that, for the moment, we are not talking about their concerns. There, for once, there will be people who look like them, young people, who know their problems and who will have concrete proposals to make.
You will be in your journalist costume. Is it important for you to keep a balance between entertainment programs and journalism?
This show, on a personal level, allows you to show another image of me that not everyone knows. People who watch LCI know that I am one of the figures on the channel and that I present current affairs programs and political debates. I’ve been a journalist since I started working in 1999 but it’s true that the general public knows me more for entertainment like ninja warrior. I think it’s interesting to show that you can do both.
With “Ninja Warrior”, you are in contact with candidates, who do not necessarily constitute a representative section of the French population…
It is a muscular representative fringe of the French population (laughs).
… Would you say that allows you to be in contact with the public, but also with its concerns, to feel things that a political journalist does not feel…
Where you’re right is that I think people speak to me differently than other journalists because I have a very accessible side. I look at things a little differently. I love it – that’s what I kinda do in LCI Mornings weekend with Anne-Chloé Botter – testimonials, interviewing people, discussing. Last week we had the youngest presidential candidate, Martin Rocca. A fortnight ago, we received the first trans candidate, Marie Cau, elected from the north of France. We had peak audiences with these new faces. It’s part of my duty as a journalist to approach things differently. I may have fewer barriers and blinders than some colleagues who have a slightly more traditional view of how to approach this profession. I always look at the sides.
The release of “Sons à papa(s)” [un livre, paru chez Plon, dans lequel il raconte son coming-out, son mariage, son fils né via la GPA, gestation pour autrui] has this autumn changed anything in your relationship with the public, in your ties with them?
Probably yes. I did a long tour of about twenty dates in France to meet readers and there are a lot of people who send me very touching messages. It is a real desire to give visibility to our homosexual couples, to our homoparental families. I am convinced that it is through positive images that we can make society move. I have always been myself. I know a lot of people who don’t act like that, who sometimes don’t prefer to talk about their homosexuality because they think it’s going to be a problem for them, that it’s going to displease some people in the public. I think exactly the opposite: it is by being yourself that you build a relationship of sincerity, fidelity, trust and affection with the public.
Surrogacy will be one of the themes addressed in “Elysée 2022 – Make way for young people!” »?
I don’t think so because no candidate has put in his profession of faith or his program the idea of legalizing surrogacy. I’m not sure this is the right time to talk about this. I find that the debates are quite hysterical during the campaign, especially this one, so, in my opinion, it could do more harm than good to homoparental families. Afterwards, it is undoubtedly a subject that will come up at some point for politicians, because there is a reality, these families that exist, and it is a theme that they will have to take charge of and address one day in face.