French Public Television: a Policy Maker? Television Appearances of Prime Minister Georges Pompidou, 1962 – 1968
Media and Politics
By Violaine ChatelainEnglish
Ever since the beginning of the Fifth Republic the question was: how to succeed general de Gaulle who single handedly embodied the new system? Georges Pompidou tried to answer the question by using the television. Thanks to a good strategy of communication, this neophyte was able to establish himself, during the six years spent at the Matignon Palace, as a real politician. He was careful to signify simplicity, closeness and human warmth, in a contrasting style to the General’s, to acquire the necessary legitimacy to attain the high office of President.