On Wednesday February 22, the Association of LGBTI Journalists (AJL) published a study on the media treatment of transidentity issues, entitled Transidentities: from invisibilization to media obsession. Between August and November 2022, the authors of the study analyzed 434 articles published online which evoked trans identities, of which 98 had made it their main subject. The goal? “Evaluate precisely the way in which the subject is approached, treated, explained”. “Ten years ago, marriage for all was voted, bringing with it a flood of LGBTQIphobic lyrics poured out at prime time. […] In 2023, we see that the same media mechanisms are still in place, now directed against trans people”, justify the AJL journalists in a press release.
Thus, the AJL classified 21 media according to their media treatment of transidentity. “The marked improvement in the media treatment of transidentities, finally perceived as a topical subject in its own right, should be praised,” reads the report.
” 20 minutes “ 4th in the study ranking
“This progress is nevertheless fragile and often relies on certain media, even certain individual goodwill”, put the authors into perspective. Among the good students, those who produce the most “good quality” articles, we count the HuffPost (93.8%), Release (80.5%), France Blue (78.6%), 20 minutes (77.8%) and CNews (75%). On the other hand, those who produce the most low quality items are The Express (60%), Marianne (58.3%), Le Figaro (57.1%), the JDD (57.1%) and Echoes (41.7%). Le Figaro is also the media that published the most content related to trans identity during the study period, publishing 70 articles in four months, i.e. more “one article out of 6 of [cette] study “.
Among the problematic contents, the journalists of the AJL are keen to recall “the responsibility of the media in the dissemination of transphobic positions”: “We are thinking, for example, of the Figaro or at Marianne who, through their obsessive, alarmist and lax treatment of these issues, largely participate in the creation of “moral panics” around transidentities. »
In total, half of the 434 articles are “of good quality”. Among the points for improvement is the polarization of the subjects discussed with trans people: their trans identity. “20.9% of the articles studied give a voice to a trans person, in particular to address something other than their trans identity. »