Before being adopted, the device had been tested by the French media collective, in particular by filming from A to Z an entire demonstration to compare the results. Since then, it has been used around fifty times (especially before the 2020 confinement). Note that it happened that the technology did not work reliably enough, for example if there was a lot of smoke, masking the silhouettes. It has also happened that the course of the demonstration makes the results irrelevant, because fights had dispersed the demonstrators in one place. “It can happen, in this case, we say so”, explains Assaël Adary.
At RTBF, this is a trial, with no commitment for the future.
“It’s an investment, a signal of our desire to be independent”, explains RTBF’s Director of Information, Jean-Pierre Jacqmin.
“At some point, we have an obligation to inform regarding reality. As there is dispute over the figures of each other, we are looking for an independent method that allows us to get closer to reality. It is also a way of respond to those who accuse us of distorting the figures”.
Any benefit for the credibility of the info?
The last time Inside looked at the figures of the demonstrations, just over three months ago, we were already wondering regarding the advisability of carrying out our own counts, for example via technological tools (mobile phone data, etc.). “These are difficult calculations to make, with a lot of approximations. If we end up with a third RTBF estimate, it would only add to the confusion”, replied the Deputy Director of Information of RTBF, Frédéric Gersdorff.
Adding to the confusion: this risk still exists. How trustworthy will this approach be deemed by the public? The question remains open at this stage. Jean-Christophe Willems, a colleague used to demonstrations, is somewhat skeptical: “It leaves me unmoved, it’s not the war of figures, it’s not a question of precise account. Recently, when we had given three figures [celui de la police, des organisateurs et son estimation de journaliste, cf plus haut], I still heard claims that we had only given that of the police. I’m not sure it’s going to change anything.”
This question, the editorialist Thomas Legrand already mentioned in 2017:“Are we sure that a figure provided by the press would be more credible in the eyes of the public? It’s true that our aura is not much higher than that of the parties and unions, but that’s not a reason so as not to decide, collectively (TV, radio, Afp and as many newspapers as possible), to pool our resources to provide a 3rd figure.” This is perhaps more a question of journalistic values and principles than of the expectation of guaranteed results in terms of gaining trust and credibility in the eyes of the public.