After Takeover, French TV Channels Broadcast 50% More Far-Right Opinions

In a new study, the EPoS Economic Research Center at the Universities of Mannheim and Bonn, led by Professor Camille Urvoy, Ph.D., analyzed French TV channels with regard to the political preferences of their owners. Channels of the Canal Plus Group, which was recently bought by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, broadcast a particularly high proportion of far-right opinions after the takeover.

For democracies to work, potential voters should be presented with a variety of different views. Professor Camille Urvoy, Ph.D., assistant professor of Economic Policy and Political Economy at the University of Mannheim, analyzed French TV channels to find out how much the political preferences of the channel owners affect the channel program.

Three TV channels of the Canal Plus Group, recently acquired by billionaire Vincent Bolloré, stood out, when the presenters and almost 260,000 guests of the channels were analyzed. According to the study, the time devoted to politicians on the radical right increased after the takeover. Overall, it even doubled in comparison to other channels if, for example, activists and commentators are included, whose speaking time, unlike that of politicians, is not monitored by the media supervisory authorities.

Are French TV stations impartial?
The EPoS researchers also found inconsistencies in the representation of different political groups on other channels in the French TV landscape. “This is despite the existence of broadcast regulations meant to ensure respect for pluralist expression,” says Urvoy. Political conclusions for the regulation of the French media can be drawn from the findings of the study: “First, when measuring pluralism of views represented on a channel, it is important to not only focus on politicians, but to include non-politicians as well who may be used to bias content,” says Urvoy. “Second, the takeover by Bolloré shows that rules to protect pluralism and impartiality within channels are needed. This is all the more important as most people get their news from a limited number of sources.”

The full study is available here: www.crctr224.de/research/discussion-papers/archive/dp537.

About EPoS
Established in 2018, the Transregio 224 EPoS collaborative research center, a collaboration between the University of Bonn and the University of Mannheim, is a long-term research institution funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). EPoS addresses three central social challenges: how to promote equality of opportunity; how to regulate markets in light of the internationalization and digitalization of economic activity; and how to safeguard the stability of the financial system?

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