French media broadcasters are illegally discriminating against those on the political Right, a report has found.
Populists in the country have expressed little surprise at the findings, with Reconquete MEP Nicolas Bay telling Brussels Signal that everyone was well aware that the “so-called ‘public service’ media in France is a mouthpiece for the political left”.
According to the Thomas More Institute report published on May 24, publicly funded television and radio channels in the country are overwhelmingly fielding left-wing guests and promoting left-wing ideas, despite having a legal obligation to be politically balanced in their coverage.
Analysing a list of 587 guests who appeared on France’s most prominent publicly funded media between February 19 to 24, 2024, researchers found about half of them could be considered politically neutral.
Another 25 per cent were classified as falling under the “Socialist and progressive” label, while another 21 per cent of the guests were viewed as holding a sort of “Macronist” Liberal point of view.
By contrast, just 4 per cent – or 26 people – were classified as leaning to the Right. That was despite parties on that side of the political spectrum collectively polling at nearly 50 per cent ahead of the European Parliament elections in June.
The Institute found even greater political bias when it came to how guests addressed individual political topics.
Researchers claimed that of those brought on to discuss climate and ecology, 65.6 per cent held pro-green agenda views, while 57 per cent expressed disapproval for politicians deemed to be to the Right of Macron.
They added that 100 per cent of guests asked about the issue of diversity and multiculturalism expressed approval of the ideological precepts.
The Thomas More Institute report researchers concluded that the research shows publicly funded media in France “does not fairly broadcast the different currents of opinion”.
“We believe that all the elements presented make it possible to establish the solid and well-argued observation that public broadcasting is failing in its mission of pluralism,” they said.
Many on the French right seemed unsurprised by the findings, with numerous commentators claiming that the left-wing bias of the mainstream media had been apparent for a long time.
“Everyone has known for a long time that the so-called ‘public service’ media in France is a mouthpiece for the political left,” Reconquete MEP Nicolas Bay told Brussels Signal.
He added that “most” of France’s journalists are “openly committed” to fighting for the left.
“Gilles Bornstein, of France Info, even said at the start of the presidential campaign that Eric Zemmour ‘had no right’ to come on his set,” Bay added, describing state TV as being “full of propaganda”.
He added that, while news of media bias was “nothing new”, the work of the Thomas More Institute was still commendable as it handed right-wing politicians evidence to back up their claims.
“Now no one will be able to deny it, and we will be justified in rebalancing political representation when the right comes to power.”
ANALYSIS: #France’s mainstream political parties are losing French voters on the road to the European Parliament elections, writes @AnneLaureDuf.
Read the full article 👉🏼 https://t.co/dUouBD5OYU #europeanelections #useyourvote pic.twitter.com/62i9e18Ihp
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 21, 2024
