Left-wing journalists have won a huge battle in France against CNews, the country’s most popular news channel. France’s Council of State, the country’s highest administrative court, has given the media regulator Arcom six months to investigate the channel to determine whether or not it is keeping to strict rules on balanced and independent journalism.

CNews is one of five French news channels and the only one that defiantly ignores the groupthink of leftist Paris journalists. It’s long been the target of those seeking to silence it in a campaign reminiscent of that waged against GB News by leftist groups in Britain, who both complain to Ofcom and organise advertising boycotts.

France is already quietly one of the most censorious countries in Europe

CNews is hardly a redoubt of extreme right wing thought. It has excellent journalists like Christine Kelly and Pascal Praud. It’s consistently lively and intelligent. It merely lacks the mindset that all the other channels appear to fiercely guard.

All CNews has done is define the Overton window of accepted ideas in society somewhat more expansively than any of the other TV stations in France. That includes BFMTV, the unapologetically pro-Macron station; LCI, owned by the TF1 group that has the concession for France’s main terrestrial channel; France 24, which is another wholly-owned subsidiary of the French state, and Public Senate, which is controlled by the upper house of parliament and has an audience of 0.2 per cent – almost immeasurably minute. CNews has not been afraid to tackle the issues the polls say are at the forefront of voter concern such as crime and immigration.

In 2022, the Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) press freedom group appealed to the Council of State against the French regulator Arcom’s refusal ‘to act against CNews’ failure to fulfil its obligations’. The organisation accused the channel of failing to respect the independence, pluralism and honesty of the news. The highest administrative court has now ruled that ‘the information provided by the service (CNews) does not comply with the obligation to be independent of its parent company’s main shareholder, either politically or economically, as attested by various testimonies and studies’.

Arcom now has six months to examine RSF’s appeal. Incredibly, for the first time, the Council of State ruled that respect for pluralism on a news channel should also take account of the political colour of all participants in the programmes broadcast, including columnists, presenters and guests. This means that all guests must be categorised in advance, and somehow balanced, so that viewers might not be unduly influenced by a predominance of certain ideas. In a press release, RSF hailed the decision a ‘very big victory for freedom of information and pluralism in the media’.

France is already quietly one of the most censorious countries in Europe with heavy intervention in social media and a heavily subsidised print media. This judgement is manifestly ridiculous as it requires the media regulator to strictly control not just the opinions of journalists and politicians but those of its guests. It is part of an increasing encroachment by the administrative tribunals into the life of France, routinely striking out sections of legislation of which it disapproves. Whatever will be next.