The France Télévisions experience: 3 questions for Christophe de Vallambras from Medialab de l’info
Posted: Sun Feb 16, 2025 5:13 am
David Bohrman had launched the idea of the "magic wall" for CNN in 2002. The channel keeps the lead this year but all the other American networks now use a "touch screen" with a level of granularity particularly conducive to commentaries. It is really the anchormen who make the difference. Each one has his specificities: Bill Hemmer on Fox News, Steve Kornacki on MSNBC , Chuck Todd on NBC News, Anthony Salvanto on CBS News and Tom Llamas on ABC News. But CNN particularly stands out with the exceptional analyses of John King nicknamed the "wall magician" or "the map guy".
1. The touch screen was at the heart of France Télévisions' system. How was it integrated for the US elections?
"It is a powerful editorial format, set up when rich people database FranceInfo was created 4 years ago and has now become a remarkable signature of the France Télévisions group's news, including on the flagship channel France 2. For the US elections, it showed its full potential, combining the most relevant uses to respond in real time to information needs.
Journalists used the interactive results map, developed exclusively by Franceinfo web, which allowed them to visualize, with a gesture, the overall situation of the country, of each candidate, or state by state. But the interventions also juggled, with a swipe of the finger, with the "Digital UX Compositor" touch application, developed by the Rennes company Excense in partnership with France Télévisions, making it possible to provide content of all kinds (images, videos, etc.) in order to enrich the raw information, decipher it, and put it into perspective.
Complete these tactile tools, opening a large window on the world, journalists could also display, among other things, an interactive internet browser, specially configured to integrate with the touch screen, continuously observing social networks, American news sites, etc.
1. The touch screen was at the heart of France Télévisions' system. How was it integrated for the US elections?
"It is a powerful editorial format, set up when rich people database FranceInfo was created 4 years ago and has now become a remarkable signature of the France Télévisions group's news, including on the flagship channel France 2. For the US elections, it showed its full potential, combining the most relevant uses to respond in real time to information needs.
Journalists used the interactive results map, developed exclusively by Franceinfo web, which allowed them to visualize, with a gesture, the overall situation of the country, of each candidate, or state by state. But the interventions also juggled, with a swipe of the finger, with the "Digital UX Compositor" touch application, developed by the Rennes company Excense in partnership with France Télévisions, making it possible to provide content of all kinds (images, videos, etc.) in order to enrich the raw information, decipher it, and put it into perspective.
Complete these tactile tools, opening a large window on the world, journalists could also display, among other things, an interactive internet browser, specially configured to integrate with the touch screen, continuously observing social networks, American news sites, etc.