Event: Political Communication

« The most important thing in communication is hearing what is not said. »

-Peter Drucker-

Within the month of Francophonie, the Faculty of Information and Communication of the Université Antonine has organized at its main campus in Baabda, a discussion panel on the theme "Political Communication and Francophonie" with the following prominent speakers Isabelle Veyrat Masson, Director of Political Communication Laboratory at CNRS and journalist for France Television and France-Inter, Hervé Sabourin Director of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie and MP Ghassan Moukhaiber, member of the National Council of La Francophonie.

 

The debate, moderated by the Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication, Dr. Joseph Moukarzel was attended by a host of personalities including among others the Belgian ambassador Alex Leanertz. Introduction and welcome by Dr. Joseph Moukarzel who, in his speech, said that the conference discusses an unconventional subject, in any case in Lebanon, where political communication is somewhat chaotic. "When this is not the language of wood that is required, we are in an exchange situation insults, threats, intimidation or the opposite of apologies or even glorification." Has noticed before stressing that "the challenge of political communication in Lebanon goes beyond the democratic process to become a multipolar catalyst mobilizing citizens based on their religious community and, at the expense of unity around national identity, homeland, or citizenship."

 

At this meeting, three lines of thought have been proposed by MP Ghassan Moukhaiber to measure the influence of the Francophonie on political communication and its impact on the Lebanese reality: the Right, the political and media repository. The parliamentarian who initially, in denouncing a Lebanese system "Oligarchic fundamentally and institutionally corrupt" wondered how the communication she can correct the negative perception that people have of politics while most of the media are controlled by oligarchs also lined religious and therefore, become tools in the hands of these reinforcing clienteles?

 

Faced with this grim picture, Mr. Moukhaiber nevertheless wished to recall that Lebanese legislation is based largely on French texts at a time when references to French culture are still existing in the political discourse and the media Francophones, although declining, still continue to exist. He, at this stage, considered the hardest in terms of Francophonie, is to maintain these qualities, prompting occasionally to reinforce and respond with targeted actions.

 

In her turn, Isabelle Veyrat Masson, Director of Political Communication Laboratory at CNRS raised an issue of great current namely communications policy towards the “hypermediatization”. Dissecting the changing world of media, from the time of the poster through the transistor to the digital and the advent of social networks, the researcher at length about the changes occurring in the media landscape in which democracy has, in his words, changed the standards and the rules enacted.

 

She also stopped on the impact of these changes on media practices and issues arising with all that it entails skids, abolition of borders and withdrawal, desecration of power, confuse public / private or predominance of opinion at the expense of facts etc.

Taking last chief speech, Hervé Sabourin Director of the AUF found that the Francophonie has a big future in the region. In his speech, the director of AUF returned on messages Francophonie vehicle and, in his words, must be emphasized as much as they are beyond the scope of practice of a language, ie the values of sharing, gathering and humanism but also expertise and know-how as cultural and linguistic diversity.

Joseph Moukarzel, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication