The left at night, the far right during the day. The organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) believes that the news channel Cnews is circumventing compliance with the obligation of pluralism in speaking times. She therefore announced this Wednesday that she “will contact” Arcom (Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication) to denounce “cheating” by this media.
In an investigation made public, RSF claims to have screened the broadcasts of the four French continuous news channels (BFMTV, CNews, France Info, LCI) from March 1 to 31, using an automatic screen capture tool which made it possible to analyze 700,000 banners. “CNews, far from respecting pluralism on the air as it prides itself on, is cheating,” asserts the press rights organization.
Press conference “tunnels” at night
According to RSF, the channel uses a stratagem of “nightly catch-ups” to give “the illusion of political pluralism” and “provide a copy specific to Arcom”, responsible for enforcing the obligation of political pluralism in speaking time. A “circumvention strategy” which involves “tunnels” of conferences or speeches by LFI or PS officials. “The left comes well ahead while the French sleep and the far right occupies, by far, the first position during peak audience times,” assures RSF.
The NGO quantifies this “dizzying gap”. During prime time, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the far right, in which RSF places the RN and Philippe de Villiers, accumulates 40.6% exposure compared to 15.4% for the left (LFI, PS, PCF, EELV), while at night (from midnight to 7 a.m.), the left climbs to 60.1%, compared to 1.6% for the far right. According to RSF, “during the month studied, no other channel had such a difference in treatment.” Contacted by AFP (Agence France presse), CNews, which has become the leading news channel in France in terms of audience share, did not react.
The Canal + group channel, owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, is accused by many left-wing politicians of promoting far-right ideas, something it denies. For their part, right-wing and RN politicians accuse public broadcasting (France Télévisions, Radio France) of bias in favor of left-wing ideas, a theme at the center of a parliamentary commission of inquiry which kicked off on Tuesday.
RSF has already contacted Arcom in the past regarding CNews, considering the channel as “an opinion media”. Following one of its referrals, the Council of State ordered Arcom to strengthen its control over the channel.