As she publishes her autobiography *, the queen of Face à l’info speaks about freedom in the media, on social networks and on the threats of which she is the victim. As well as on the approach she has of Éric Zemmour.
This autobiography in the form of a reflection on freedom, was it an opportunity to respond to the attacks to which you have been subjected since the beginnings of Facing the news on CNews, in 2019?
CHRISTINE KELLY: It was above all a way of being transparent with the viewers. Say how I experienced their unwavering support, also explain to them why I am here, why I resist and what my commitment is. Detractors, there must be some, but I prefer to favor the positive.
Speaking of your detractors, they blame you for having only right-wing columnists. Even Pascal Praud, your highly criticized colleague, has Laurent Joffrin or Jean-Louis Burgat as “left guarantees”…
Charlotte d’Ornellas Where Mathieu Bock-Cote have conservative beliefs, but I know that Marc Leading has a left-leaning heart, and for Dmitry Pavlenko, I’ve no idea. Anyway, I’m not asking those around the table to have a position but a reflection, from which viewers form an opinion. It is paradoxical to note that Pascal Praud’s program and mine are targeted by people… who advocate freedom of speech! I will therefore remind them that the confrontation of ideas does not mean that we endorse them all.
Let us take a precise example of this paradox: when Daily (TMC) you room with your quote “You can be French while eating couscous”, is it freedom of expression or an excess of freedom of expression?
It’s so easy. We take part of a sentence and hop!, the person who pronounces it becomes the exact opposite of what he expressed on the air. In this sequence, Éric Zemmour was leading a charge against Islam, and I pointed out to him, with a culinary metaphor, that one could be both French and Muslim at the same time. Daily kept only the extract in question, and my remarks were suddenly impregnated with a racist irony! I could have protested but I believe that disdain is still the best of disdain.
Social networks, which have democratized speech, have become purveyors of hatred. Would modernity give birth to its own monsters?
Social networks are destroying freedom of expression by taking it beyond the limits of the law. However, I fought for Facebook and Twitter when I was at the CSA. Today, I wonder if I did well when I see the double-edged sword they have become. It is urgent to redefine the contours of freedom of expression.
Without Eric Zemmour in Facing the news, you wouldn’t be under police protection today after being threatened with beheading… What does that mean to you?
That we have reached an irreversible point of intolerance. I am being blamed for Éric Zemmour, but why? Did giving him the floor on my set mean that I agreed with his ideas? They want to cut off my head when no one knows who I’m voting for, not even my daughter, who at the age of 7 has to live with two bodyguards! The irony in this case is that the man (tried next September, editor’s note) who harassed me for a long time and then threatened me with death is black! He sees me as a traitor to my skin color. Once and for all, I don’t exist as a black person but as a citizen, a woman, and a journalist.
What does the political destiny of Éric Zemmour, which seems compromised, inspire in you?
Note that it has only been eight months since he entered politics. He has a long way ahead of him, especially when you remember that Jean-Luc Melenchon was only 8% in the 2012 legislative elections. Eric has indicated that he will not return to CNews, which does not surprise me. I think he has definitely turned the page on journalism.
But we’ll see you again at the start of the school year in Facing the news?
I’m waiting to see what my management will decide. But it still seems good to me for a fourth season! (She laughs.)
* Freedoms without expression, Le Cherche Midi, €18.90.
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