Left at night, far right during the day. The Reporters Without Borders (RSF) organization believes that the Cnews news channel neglects compliance with the obligation of pluralism in its speaking time. Therefore, he announced this Wednesday that he “will contact” Arcom (Audiovisual and Digital Communications Regulatory Authority) to denounce this “fraud” by the media.
In a published investigation, RSF claims to have screened the broadcasts of four French continuous news channels (BFMTV, CNews, France Info, LCI) from March 1 to 31, using an automated screen capture tool that made it possible to analyze 700,000 banners. “CNews, instead of respecting pluralism in broadcasts as they pride themselves on, is committing fraud,” stressed the press rights organization.
“Tunnel” press conference at night
According to RSF, the channel used a “nightly catch-up” strategy to provide the “illusion of political pluralism” and “provided special copy to Arcom”, which was responsible for enforcing the obligation of political pluralism in talk time. A “circumvention strategy” involving “tunneling” of conferences or speeches by LFI or PS officials. “The left group is far ahead while the French group sleeps and the far right group takes first place during peak viewing hours,” RSF assured.
The NGO measures this “dizzying gap.” During prime time, from 7 am to 10 am and from 6 pm. to 9 p.m., the rightmost group, where RSF placed RN and Philippe de Villiers, garnered 40.6% exposure compared to 15.4% for the left group (LFI, PS, PCF, EELV), while at night (from midnight to 7 a.m.), the left group rose to 60.1%, compared to 1.6% for the rightmost group. According to RSF, “during the months of the study, no other channel experienced such a difference in treatment.” Contacted by AFP (Agence France presse), CNews, which has become France’s leading news channel in terms of audience share, did not react.
The group’s channels Canal+, owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, are accused by many left-wing politicians of promoting right-wing ideas, but this is denied by them. Meanwhile, right-wing politicians and RN accused public broadcasters (France Télévisions, Radio France) of bias and supporting left-wing ideas, a theme that was at the heart of a parliamentary commission of inquiry that began on Tuesday.
RSF had contacted Arcom previously regarding CNews, considering the channel to be an “opinion medium.” Following one of his referrals, the State Council ordered Arcom to strengthen its control over the channel.
