Delphine Ernotte (France Télévisions): "CNews is a far-right opinion media outlet"; she calls for political support and increased funding for public broadcasting.
Following her hearing by the regulator on Wednesday, September 17, the director called for "admitting that CNews is an opinion media outlet" and a "far-right channel." In an interview with "Le Monde," she pleaded for genuine political and financial support for public service media. (...)
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Vincent Bolloré's media galaxy wants the skin of public broadcasting, demands its privatization, and expresses it violently. With our obligations regarding pluralism, independence, and guarantees of freedom of expression, etc., we pose a problem for them. At some point, we have to say stop. We need all the republican goodwill in this country to rise up against this verbal violence of an almost political nature.
We have to admit that CNews is an opinion media outlet. Let them own up to being a far-right channel!
Sorry, but that's the case. I don't know what Arcom thinks about it; you'd have to ask them. What worries me now is that some politicians are taking what is said and repeated on social media at face value without checking what really happened; this is what we call post-truth. Do we want to be like the United States, or certain European countries? If there is no strong support for public broadcasting, for what we represent in terms of independence, freedom of expression, freedom to investigate, while social media are increasingly aligning itself with the MAGA [Make America Great Again] ideology and foreign interference threatens us, we are heading for serious problems.
I ask the question. If this support consists of guaranteeing the independence of public broadcasting, and therefore sustainable funding, then we don't have it. We know the country's economic difficulties. But our funding has been declining for ten years – while it hasn't changed in current euros, we've absorbed 25% inflation. If I refer to what was emerging at the beginning of the summer [a cut of 70 million euros for Radio France and France Télévisions] , this will have significant repercussions on our ability to invest in streaming programs, fiction, documentaries, and animation.
Not only that, but also the political staff as a whole and the French. When I talk with my European colleagues, the only ones who really understand the situation are Sweden and Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky, who lacks everything, has not cut funding for public broadcasting. In Sweden, it was the Chief of Staff himself who publicly spoke out against attacking funding for public broadcasting. We debate endlessly about the meeting between two journalists and two politicians, but can we raise the bar a little? What happens tomorrow if there is war in Europe? Who will defend the French position? The pro-Russian opinion channels?
Fdesouche
