NARRATIVE – The executive, who had to convince everyone to limit their energy consumption, had a little trouble finding the right balance in their communication, between pedagogy and the risk of infantilization.
Albania, December 6, 2022. As an intense cold wave settles in France, Emmanuel Macron flies to Tirana where a European summit is being held. The President of the Republic is in a touchy mood and wants to let it be known. A few hours earlier, the spokesperson for the electricity supplier Enedis detailed on BFMTV a protocol intended to “prevent and possibly help” the thousands of patients with respiratory failure under assistance. Translation, the latter could end up in areas without power in the event of load shedding. Bronca of the entire political class, excitement among the families concerned. In front of the cameras, the blood of the head of state is only one turn: “The role of the government, the ministers, the operators, is to do their job to provide energy. And then it is to call everyone to responsibility so that there is sobriety. It’s not to start scaring people with absurd scenarios.»
In recent months, the concept of “sobriety” has gradually interfered in conversations, in private language, in the office, in public places, in the speeches of politicians and of course in government communication. Over the course of 2022, the concept has been applied to all strata of daily life. Often with seriousness, sometimes with derision. So how did we get here? How France went from an executive communicating at all costs on the health crisis at the end of 2021 to an atmosphere of autumnal anguish on possible…
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