For Olivier Faure, “it’s a channel that doesn’t say its name”.
The day after the decision of the Council of State calling on Arcom to exercise reinforced control of CNews, the boss of the Socialist Party (PS) estimated on Sud Radio this Wednesday that "it is a channel that is more than oriented , (…) Who is of extreme right ".
“The minimum is to take responsibility and claim what it is, to allow those who watch it to understand that they are not on a general news channel,” continued the socialist deputy for Seine -et-Marne, adding that he had “never been invited to CNews for years”.
The decision of the Council of State requiring Arcom to strengthen its control over #Cnews is not an attack on freedom of expression.
The real attack on freedom of expression is the absence of pluralism which currently reigns on the channel.
pic.twitter.com/EJJPBHagec
— Olivier Faure (@faureolivier) February 14, 2024
According to Olivier Faure, the media owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré is “a French-style Fox News, a channel which supports political candidates”.
“They supported Éric Zemmour, they support Marine Le Pen, well let them announce it, let them say it, let it be in the title banner under their own broadcasts,” he insisted.
“The absence of pluralism”
From his point of view, freedom of expression is "absolutely not" threatened by the decision of the Council of State, which ordered Arcom, the media watchdog, to verify that CNews respects "its obligations in matters of pluralism and independence of information.
“Respecting pluralism does not mean banning anyone,” observed the First Secretary of the PS, emphasizing that “what is an attack on freedoms is the absence of pluralism.”
Also read CNews seen by its followers: “Here, they are not afraid to say out loud what people are thinking”
The socialist deputy, however, said he was “very shocked” by the reaction of Republican president Éric Ciotti, who expressed concern on Tuesday evening about a future “inquisition among the opinions of columnists and journalists”.
“But what happened to the Gaullists?
», replied Olivier Faure, criticizing the right for “no longer recognizing judicial authority”, while the Council of State “has shown on several occasions that it is the guarantor of our freedoms”.
The highest administrative court was seized in April 2022 by the association Reporters Without Borders (RSF), after Arcom refused to rule on a formal notice from CNews.
RSF criticized the channel 16 channel for its lack of diversity regarding “the points of view expressed on the air”.
Reporters Without Borders considers that CNews “is no longer a news channel, but has become an opinion media”.