France’s CGT union slammed state-owned France 2 and its news anchor Léa Salamé for a “pitiful newcast” covering widespread 10 September demonstrations across the country on the evening news.
“Congratulations on this piece of journalism straight out of the Ancien Régime,” said the union, which represents 690,000 members. (The Ancien Régime was the mediaeval political and social system overturned by the French Revolution.)
“In its attempt to win the holy grail of the highest ratings ahead, the news management at France Télévisions seems to have bet on the most rancid elements of the political spectrum,” added the Confédération Générale du Travail (or General Confederation of Labour).
As well as attacking Léa Salamé’s news report as “biased”, the CGT deplored the state-owned news channel’s “total lack” of context behind widespread public anger which led to a nationwide day of blockades.
“According to polling institutes, nearly one in two French people supports the ‘Let’s Block Everything’ movement,” said the union.
However, Léa Salamé’s newscast “completely ignored the reasons behind the popular anger”, the union continued.
Instead, it “dealt with the day only from the angle of law and order, and the disruptions to come for people going to work,” it said.
France 2 has abandoned neutrality, said the CGT, which accused it of siding with the police.
“France 2 explicitly aligned itself with the police, even at the risk of endangering its own teams who cover the demonstrations,” said the union.
“The segment on the police deployment turned into a dialogue about the means of repression available to the police, as if they were only facing thugs, hooligans, or people in balaclavas — and not citizens with legitimate demands,” it added.
“To crown it all, this pitiful newscast ended with the blessing of Cardinal Ricard, a cassocked cleric urging us to step away from class struggle,” the union continued.
Nationwide protests in France under the banner of Bloquons tout! (Block everything) have caused difficulties for the police. https://t.co/cz0LXWpLaE
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 10, 2025
Both Léa Salamé and the network have faced broad criticism since took over as anchor of France 2 in September.
Detractors accuse both of political bias and collusion, pointing to Salamé’s marriage to left-leaning MEP Raphaël Glucksmann. Glucksmann is widely expected to stand in France’s next presidential election in 2027.
Unlike many others on the Left, Glucksmann said he did not support calls from citizen groups to ‘block everything’ on September 10.
Radical left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon also criticised the network’s news coverage, saying it was a “windfall and the media serves the system and its elites”.
“It is essential that the media class be clearly perceived as an agent of the system’s powers by the thousands of people insulted by yesterday’s reports,” he said 11 September.
France Télévisions acted in “contempt for the citizens who still watch the evening news, and for the journalists who continue to do their job in the editorial offices,” the CGT.
The criticisms came days after film recordings revealed French Socialist Party executives holding discussions with prominent journalists from state-owned broadcasters, regarding strategy for France’s next elections in 2026 and 2027.
Secret film recordings have shown French Socialist Party executives held discussions with prominent public service journalists regarding strategy for the 2027 national election and the municipal elections of 2026.
The recordings of apparent collusion caused an uproar in France,… pic.twitter.com/R4lTwKNXEZ
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 8, 2025
