CNews (stylised as CNEWS, formerly i>Télé) is a French free-to-air opinion channel launched on 4 November 1999 by Groupe 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 editorial stance, and is often compared to the American TV channel Fox News. It has been many times warned by French regulators (ARCOM) for its failure to honestly and rigorously report news to the public or even 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 and obviously 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 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 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. 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.

Warnings and sanctions

CNews was warned by the French regulatory body 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 Ivan Rioufol, 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 (RWB), the Conseil d'État ordered CNews to better respect journalistic standards and diversity. The February order by the Conseil d'État was followed by an intense disinformation campaign of hate speech against RWB. 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 agency called Progressif Media, hosted at Bolloré's corporate group Vivendi. The main investigator, Arnaud Froger, stated that Progressif Media used "counterfeiting, concealment, cybersquatting [and] trolling" as disinformation techniques against RWB.

Presenters

Politics

Economy and Stock Markets

Culture

Business and Markets

Sports

Football

Police-justice specialists

"International questions" specialist

Weather

Political editors

Regional correspondents

Former presenters

Editor

Staff

Present news anchors and analysts

Past anchors

Visual identity

Logos

Slogans