CNews (; stylised as CNEWS, formerly i>Télé) is a French
free-to-air
Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...
opinion channel launched on 4 November 1999 by
Canal+. It provides 24-hour national and global news coverage. It is the second most watched news network in France, after
BFM TV and before
LCI and
France Info.
i>Télé was renamed CNews on 27 February 2017. Since this change, it has taken a
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
editorial stance,
and is often compared to the American TV channel
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
.
It has been many times warned by French regulators (
ARCOM) for its failure to honestly and rigorously report news to the public or for illegal and reprehensible speeches. Due to these infractions, it was fined €200,000 by the French audiovisual regulatory body in 2021.
Despite the channel often violating the audiovisual laws and agreements for broadcasting on the free-to-air TV, it has so far never been really worried by the French authority of regulation.
The channel is under the control of the media proprietor and business magnate
Vincent Bolloré, who has been accused of interfering with the editorial choices of the CNews.
Viewership
According to an opinion poll conducted by
IFOP, in April 2022 during the
2022 French presidential election, 40% of CNEWS's viewers voted for
Marine Le Pen (26%) and
Éric Zemmour (14%), 26% for
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...
and 16% for
Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Controversy
According to satirical and investigative media ''
Le Canard Enchaîné'' and leftist activist group Sleeping Giants France, CNews, owned by Groupe Bolloré and
Vincent Bolloré, clearly supports conservative and far-right journalists, who are promoting hate speech.
Éric Zemmour, in particular, was condemned on 17 September 2020 for inciting racial hatred.
CNEWS is also sometimes criticised for lack of viewpoint diversity, as most of the channel's contributors espouse views of the
right-wing
Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...
or are affiliated with the
far-right.
Given its promotion of ideas of the
French far right, as well as for broadcasting fake news and conspiracy theories, the channel has been described as a French version of
Fox News
The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
.
During the
2022 French presidential election, many observers note that CNews, regardless of the audiovisual laws and agreements, supports and favors clearly the Eric Zemmour's candidacy.
After the failure of Zemmour, the channel moves gradually to the support of the
National Rally, in notably campaigning for it during the
2024 French legislative election
Legislative elections in France, Legislative elections were held in France on 30 June and 7 July 2024 (and one day earlier for some voters outside of metropolitan France) to elect all 577 Deputy (France), members of the 17th legislature of th ...
.
At least five presenters and specialists from CNews were accused of sexual assault (
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor,
Jean-Marc Morandini and
Pierre Ménès) or covering sexual misbehavior (
Yann Moix and
Philippe de Villiers
/ref>).
Warnings and sanctions
CNews was warned by the French regulatory body Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication, Arcom in May 2022 for its failure to respect its "obligation to honesty and rigor in the presentation and treatment of the news". This warning, due to statements made by , followed a record €200,000 fine levied against the channel the previous year. This fine was the result of recidivism by employee Éric Zemmour whose statements had led to previous warnings.
On 13 February 2024, after a case lodged by Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders (RWB; ; RSF) is an international non-profit and non-governmental organisation, non-governmental organization headquartered in Paris, which focuses on safeguarding the right to freedom of information. It describes its a ...
(RWB), the Conseil d'État
In France, the (; Council of State) is a governmental body that acts both as legal adviser to the executive branch and as the supreme court for administrative justice, which is one of the two branches of the French judiciary system. Establ ...
ordered CNews to better respect journalistic standards and diversity. The February order by the Conseil d'État was followed by an intense campaign between RWB against hate speech and CNews for its freedom of speech. In July 2024, an investigation by RWB traced what it believed was the source of the disinformation campaign. This included a fake website pretending to be run by RWB hosted on a server hosting "Fan de CNews", a fansite supporting CNews. The website was run by what RWB states is a disinformation
Disinformation is misleading content deliberately spread to deceive people, or to secure economic or political gain and which may cause public harm. Disinformation is an orchestrated adversarial activity in which actors employ strategic dece ...
agency called Progressif Media, hosted at Bolloré's corporate group Vivendi. The main investigator, Arnaud Froger, stated that Progressif Media used "counterfeiting, concealment, cybersquatting ndtrolling" as disinformation techniques against RWB.
Presenters
Politics
* Julien Nény (since 2016)
* Yoan Usaï (since 2013)
* Loïc Signor (since 2016)
* Hugues Dago (since 2016)
Economy and Stock Markets
* Marie-Sophie Carpentier (2008-2012)
Culture
* Olivier Benkemoun (since 1999)
* Xavier Leherpeur (since 2013)
* Pierre Zeni, cinema specialist (since 2016)
* Laurent Weil (since 2016)
Business and Markets
* Johann Ouaki (since 2017)
* Sandy Prenois (since 2017)
Sports
* Pascal Praud (since 2010)
* Julien Pasquet (since 2009)
* Elodie Poyade (2012, since 2016)
* Sonia Carneiro (since 2013)
* Thibaud Vézirian (since 2017)
* Thibaut Geffrotin (since 2017)
* Lyès Houhou (from Infosport+)
* Paul Tchoukriel (from Infosport+)
* Virginie Ramel (since 2017)
* Arnaud Bonnin (since 2017)
Football
* Francesca Antoniotti
* Raymond Aabou
* Jean-Luc Arribart
* Pierre Ménès
* Gilles Verdez
* Alain Roche
* Bruno Ahoyo
Police-justice specialists
* Noémie Schulz (since 3/2016)
* Sandra Buisson (since 2012)
"International questions" specialist
* Harold Hyman (since 2016)
Weather
* Thierry Fréret (since 2010)
* Loïc Rousval (since 2015)
* Alexandra Blanc (2011-2013 and since 2016)
* Somaya Labidi
Political editors
* Gérard Leclerc (2017-2023)
* Yves Thréard (since 2012)
* Virginie Le Guay (since 2017)
* Jean-Claude Dassier (since 2013)
* Françoise Degois (2014-2016 and since 2017)
Regional correspondents
* Damien Deparnay (Lille and Nord-Pas de Calais)
* Olivier Madinier (Lyon and Rhône-Alpes)
* Romain Ripoteau (Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées)
* Jean-Luc Thomas (Toulouse)
* Jean-Michel Decazes and Michaël Chaillou (Bretagne and Pays de La Loire)
* Sébastien Bendotti (Bureau de Lyon and Rhône-Alpes)
* David Brunet (Strasbourg)
* Stéphanie Rouquié (Marseille)
* Antoine Estève and Brice Bachon (Bordeaux)
Former presenters
Editor
* Yann Moix (2014–2015)
Staff
Present news anchors and analysts
* Claire-Élisabeth Beaufort
* Soizic Boisard
* Patrice Boisfer
* Virginie Chomicki
* Nelly Daynac
* Caroline Delage
* Romain Desarbres
* Laurence Ferrari
* Olivier Galzi
* Thomas Lequertier
* Clélie Mathias
* Marc Menant
* Isabelle Moreau
* Patrick Poivre d'Arvor
* Pascal Praud
* Audrey Pulvar
* Aïda Touihri
* Éric Zemmour
Past anchors
* Harry Roselmack (currently on TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
)
* Guillaume Durand (currently on Paris Première
Paris Première is a French TV channel, available on cable television, cable, satellite television, satellite and the Digital terrestrial television, digital terrestrial service, Télévision Numérique Terrestre. It was launched on 15 December 1 ...
and Radio Classique)
* Thomas Hugues (currently on France 5)
* Maya Lauqué (currently on France 5)
* Thomas Thouroude (currently on Canal+)
* Bruce Toussaint (currently on France 5)
* Amandine Bégot (currently on LCI)
* Laurent Bazin
* Sonia Chironi
* Marie-Sophie Carpentier
Visual identity
Logos
Slogans
* 1999–2001: "i> l'info se rapproche" (i> news is getting closer)
* 2001–2002: "Là où ça se passe, 24 h sur 24" (Wherever it's happening, 24/7)
* 2002–2007: "L'info en +" (News in +)
* 2007–2008: "Toutes les infos, tout le temps" (All the news, all the time)
* 2008–2009: "Au cœur de l'actualité" (At the heart of the news)
* 2009–2010: "L'information avec un grand I" (News with a big I)
* 2010–2011: "Soyez les premiers à voir les images" (Be the first to see the images)
* 2011–2013: "Au plus près de l'actualité 24h/24" (Closer to the news 24/7)
* 2013–2014: "Au cœur de l'événement" (At the heart of the event)
* 2014–2017: "L'information ne s'arrête jamais" (The news never stops)
* February - November 2017: "La chaîne info : décryptage et opinions" (The news channel: decoding and opinions)
* November 2017 – 2021: "La chaîne info qui explique l'info" (The news channel that explains the news)
* June 2021 – January 2023: "Venez avec vos convictions, vous vous ferez une opinion." (Come with your convictions, you'll form an opinion.)
* January 2023: "La liberté d’expression n’a jamais fait autant parler" (The liberty has not of expression never fact as many to speak)
References
External links
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:CNews
Canal+
Conservatism in France
Conservative media in France
Television stations in France
Television channels and stations established in 1999
1999 establishments in France
French-language television stations
24-hour television news channels in France