France’s audiovisual watchdog Arcom will investigate the editorial treatment of the controversy around discussions between French Socialist Party executives and prominent public service journalists by Conservative media outlets CNews and Europe 1.
A scandal broke in early September when secret film recordings showed MEP Pierre Jouvet and secretary general of the Socialist Party, Luc Broussy, president of the party’s National Council with journalists Thomas Legrand (France Inter and Libération) and Patrick Cohen (France Inter and France 5) discussing strategies to help Socialist candidates and undermine Conservatives.
This was sharply condemned by Conservative media but, according to public broadcasters Radio France and France Télévisions, this was nothing more than a “systematic and daily smear campaign” against the outlets.
Delphine Ernotte Cunci and Sibyle Veil, presidents of the public broadcasters, said in September: “The outrageous and unbalanced nature of this campaign now goes beyond a simple debate of opinions: It contributes to undermining confidence in public service information, to relativising the responsibility of the act of informing and, in doing so, to weakening the quality of democratic debate.”
They asked Arcom to investigate “some of the denigrating remarks” because “they have taken up very significant airtime in recent days”.
Now Arcom has acted upon that request, French outlet Les Echos reported.
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— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) September 8, 2025
The secret recordings by L’Incorrect, a Conservative magazine, appeared to reinforce pre-existing notions with the broader public, particularly on the Right, that the French public media, paid for by taxpayer funds, had a strong left-leaning political bias.
Legrand, a columnist for Libération and France Inter, was heard musing on undermining Conservative Paris mayoral hopeful Rachida Dati’s ambitions by amplifying her legal woes in media coverage, quipping that public outlets could “help” the Socialist Party (PS).
Cohen, a France 5 panellist, nodded along as Broussy outlined how to leverage taxpayer-funded airtime to boost figures such as MEP Raphaël Glucksmann.
The footage, verified by a bailiff’s report, quickly went viral.
Days after it aired, Arcom summoned the heads of Radio France and France Télévisions for a hearing to assess whether the journalists’ conduct breached obligations of independence and impartiality under French broadcasting law.
By September 18, the regulator had formally opened an investigation, focusing on compliance with pluralism rules for State-funded outlets.
Figures from the National Rally (RN) and Les Républicains (LR) branded the probe a “distraction tactic”, arguing it deflected from the real scandal, public media’s alleged PS puppetry.
Adding fuel to the fire, fresh reports emerged on September 23 alleging Legrand’s wife runs a media firm bankrolled by PS-linked municipalities and NGOs, with contracts worth tens of thousands of euros from Socialist-led councils in Parisian suburbs.
Arcom has long been a battleground, with left-leaning groups such as Reporters Without Borders (RSF) pushing for stricter oversight of Conservative channels.
In February 2024, France’s Council of State ordered Arcom to scrutinise CNews – dubbed “Fox News à la française” – for potential breaches of balance, following RSF complaints over its pundit-heavy format and right-wing guests including Reconquête party member Éric Zemmour.
The regulator fined CNews €200,000 in 2021 for “hate speech” but has faced accusations of leniency toward public outlets’ leftward tilt.
Martin Ajdari, the current president of Arcom, is son of a French former Socialist MEP and has worked in the cabinet of former Socialist finance minister Laurent Fabius. He also worked for Radio France in the past.
French TV channel C8, known for airing a popular right-wing show, will be taken off air by next year following a ruling from the French broadcasting regulator, Arcom. https://t.co/HDs5sX8O9n
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 25, 2024
