French media regulatory authority ARCOM has launched an investigation into right-wing media outlets CNews and Europe 1 over suspicion that their editorial staff breached the principles of impartiality and pluralism when publishing revelations about the scandal known as the Legrand affair.
As we reported, the scandal broke in early September when a secret recording was made public of a conversation between Socialist party leaders Pierre Jouvet (MEP), Luc Broussy (the party’s secretary general), and Thomas Legrand (a journalist with France Inter and Libération), along with Patrick Cohen (France Inter and France 5). In the leaked audio, they are heard discussing how to support Socialist candidates and undermine right-wing opponents.
Attempts to discredit the source—conservative magazine L’Incorrect—proved ineffective, especially after a court bailiff verified that the recording had been published in full, without edits. Right-wing media outlets CNews and Europe1 covered the scandal, claiming they confirm long-held suspicions of left-wing bias within France’s taxpayer-funded public broadcasting system.
ARCOM is now investigating whether the principles of impartiality and pluralism have been breached.
Meanwhile, Rassemblement National and Les Républicains argue that the investigation is merely a smokescreen, and that the true scandal is the ideological influence of the Left over public media institutions.
