"Expertes à la Une": six years that changed the game

The 6th cohort of the Group TF1’s flagship program crosses a symbolic milestone: 100 expert women supported since 2021. Figures that show a real, measurable impact—on air as well as in professional career paths.

A starting point, a long-term program

In 2021, when Expertes à la Une launched, women accounted for 44% of the expert guests invited onto the news TV studio sets of TF1 Group. An imbalance that reflected a well-documented reality: in news media, expert voices remained predominantly male—especially on topics such as defense, cybersecurity, or finance.

Based on this observation, the TF1 Group News Department launched Expertes à la Une, a comprehensive support program designed to identify, train, and back expert women in their public and media speaking engagements. The goal wasn’t simply to rebalance statistics, but to change how women’s expertise is valued in public debate.

Measurable results, in our programs and beyond

With the 6th cohort launched on February 19, 2026, nearly 100 women will have benefited from the program since its creation. The results speak for themselves: 84% of participants have made at least one media appearance since joining, 26% have completed at least 15 press, TV, or radio interventions, 94% say they are satisfied with the program, and 95% say they gained confidence thanks to the coaching sessions

And on air: the share of experts in the TF1 Group evening news (JT) rose from 44% in 2021 to more than 59% in 2025—an increase of 15 points over five years that highlights the program’s direct impact on on-screen representation.

Learning to say “yes”

Behind the numbers, there’s a very real barrier: legitimacy. 

“The challenge for these women is to learn to say ‘yes’ when newsrooms reach out to them—because they don’t always feel legitimate or comfortable in media spaces. And for us, it’s also about finding expert women in fields where women remain particularly underrepresented.”

• Christelle Chiroux, Deputy Director of News for the TF1 Group, in charge of the Expertes à la Une program

To overcome these obstacles, this edition evolves the setup. This year, two major innovations mark the 6th cohort, placed under the theme of “New Voices.”

An unprecedented partnership with LinkedIn complements the traditional media component. Because today, expert legitimacy is also built on social networks, participants will benefit from coaching sessions led by the social platform’s editorial teams—so they can learn to highlight their expertise online and grow their professional visibility.

The program also includes more than 30 hours of training throughout the year: media trainings, individual coaching, meetings with journalist godparents (mentors) from the TF1 and LCI newsrooms (including Anne-Claire Coudray, Marie-Sophie Lacarrau, or Jean-Baptiste Boursier), and a vocal masterclass led by Sofia Morgavi, coach on Star Academy.

Axelle Saint-Cirel, an exceptional patron

To embody the theme of this edition, the program has chosen a patron with a highly symbolic journey: Axelle Saint-Cirel, a mezzo-soprano revealed to the world during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games—or during the commemorative ceremony for the November 13, 2015 attacks, where she performed the Marseillaise alone in front of the entire world.

Her message to the expert women of the 2026 cohort sums up the spirit of the program: your voice is unique—make it heard. An exhortation to assert oneself that echoes the still very real obstacles faced by many expert women: impostor syndrome, self-censorship, and underrepresentation in certain strategic sectors.

Beyond the figures, Expertes à la Une is driven by a conviction: parity in the media is not just a matter of fairness—it is a condition for the quality of public debate. In a world shaped by rapid technological shifts, unprecedented geopolitical tensions, and systemic climate challenges, diversifying expert voices enriches analysis and better captures the complexity of reality.

In this sense, each expert supported by the program is not only a beneficiary; she also becomes a contributor to more just, more complete, and more representative information for society as a whole.