The Council of State on Tuesday asked Arcom, the media regulator, to strengthen its control over the CNews news channel. The highest administrative court “ordered Arcom to re-examine within six months compliance by the CNews channel with its obligations in terms of pluralism and independence of information”. The decision follows an appeal from the NGO Reporters Without Borders (RSF), which considers that CNews “has become an opinion media”, which the person concerned contests.
“A real problem for pluralism”
The secretary general of the NGO defending press freedom, Christophe Deloire, welcomed a “historic decision by the Council of State” for “democracy and journalism”. “Arcom has not shown itself up to the task” until now, he said during a press conference, insisting on its “role in this crucial moment” where disinformation and exploitation can be rampant. For Robert Ménard, mayor of Béziers and co-founder of RSF, guest on Europe 1 Matin, this is “bad news for press freedom”.
“Can you imagine? You’re going to have to ask for a sort of political identity card. You’re going to ask each of your guests who they’re voting for, where they stand, on the right, on the left, in the middle… And then sometimes “, it’s more complicated than that, there are people who have divergent opinions on different subjects. I think it’s a real problem for pluralism,” he said at Dimitri Pavlenko’s microphone, rejoicing rather “hearing people” with different thoughts.
Arcom must take into account the interventions of all participants in the programs broadcast
RSF seized the Council of State in April 2022, after having unsuccessfully called on Arcom to put CNews on notice to respect its legal obligations, namely “honesty, independence and pluralism of information”. During the hearing before the Council of State on January 19, the public rapporteur, who says the law, partially agreed with RSF. His conclusions were widely followed.
First of all, Arcom must not limit itself to counting the speaking times of political figures to ensure respect for pluralism. It will have to take into account the interventions of all the participants in the programs broadcast, including columnists, hosts and guests, demanded the court. Concerning the independence of information, this must be assessed “not only with regard to a given program” but also, for a channel, “from all of its operating conditions and the characteristics of its programming “, added the Council of State in its public decision.
“It’s a political offensive”
According to Robert Ménard, certain ideas do not have the right to be cited. “I know Reporters Without Borders quite well, would they have done the same thing with a left-wing media outlet? Of course not! If you defend ideas that are not left-wing, it’s a bit suspicious “It’s a political offensive,” he said.
“The position of Reporters Without Borders is a betrayal”
Reporters Without Borders was founded in 1985 by four journalists: Robert Ménard, Rémy Loury, Jacques Molénat and Émilien Jubineau, with the motto “Without a free press, no fight can be heard.” An NGO made “to defend pluralism”, as the mayor of Béziers indicates at the microphone of Europe 1. “I spent my life taking hostages out of prison, fighting for hostages, I thought nothing like them, I would have even fought their ideas but we took pride in saying ‘we don’t have their opinion, but we are fighting so that they can express themselves’! Today, the position of Reporters without borders, it’s more than a denial, it’s a betrayal”, he protested, saying he was stunned by this announcement.
In a press release, Arcom argued that “with this renewed interpretation of the 1986 law (on freedom of communication, editor’s note), the Council of State strengthens the capacity of control by the regulator”. And this concerns all audiovisual media. A year ago, Roch-Olivier Maistre, president of Arcom, estimated that CNews “strictly respects political pluralism” overall, while judging that it “is closer to a channel of opinion” in the style of the American conservative TV Fox News.