FIAT/IFTA World Conference 2026

This presentation proposes a case study of data.ina.fr, a public platform developed by INA to unlock the potential of audiovisual archives by transforming them into long-term, interpretable data about media coverage in France. Rather than focusing on individual archive items or editorial reuse, data.ina.fr introduces a new paradigm: archives as a source of structured evidence that allows society to observe, compare, and understand media narratives over time. 
The platform analyses nearly two million hours of television and radio broadcasts from twenty French channels over a ten-year period (2015–2026). Through a set of interactive visualisations, it enables users to explore how current affairs are treated by media : which personalities dominate media attention, how territories are represented, how language evolves, and how gender balance in airtime varies across channels and years. This long-term, quantitative perspective put the spotlight on trends that are impossible to grasp through manual consultation of archives alone. 
data.ina.fr is grounded in two founding principles. First, to give meaning to archival collections beyond the archive object itself, by extracting indicators that allow comparison, verification, and contextualisation. Second, to create a tool for the objectivation of information over time, capable of supporting journalism, research, education, and public debate. In this sense, the project positions archives not only as heritage, but as a living public resource. 
This approach has made data.ina.fr a reference tool for professionals. Journalists from major national media regularly use the platform to support investigations, contextualise breaking news, and produce data-driven storytelling grounded in archival evidence. It is also integrated into journalism education, where it serves as a practical resource for teaching investigative methods based on quantitative analysis of media content. Beyond journalism, researchers in linguistics, political science, marketing, and public policy use the platform to analyse media representations and agenda-setting dynamics. 
Internally, data.ina.fr has transformed INA’s own editorial practices. Journalists rely on it to investigate issues such as gender-based violence, foreign interference campaigns, disinformation strategies, or media concentration. Monthly publications such as the data.ina.fr News Barometer provide recurring indicators on parity, territorial coverage, and dominant narratives, reinforcing INA’s role as a trusted public media actor capable of objectifying the media treatment of current affairs.