THE NEW YORK TIMES: CNews, the news network created by the billionaire Vincent Bolloré, topped the ratings in May by giving a new bullhorn for right-wing views on crime, immigration, climate and Covid.
PARIS — It’s the news network that claims it tells viewers what the “woke” mainstream media won’t. It says it fights for endangered freedom of expression, even as it has been fined by the government’s broadcast regulator for inciting racial hatred.
It is CNews — which in four short years became France’s No. 1 news network for the first time in May by giving a bullhorn to far-right politicians, opponents of fighting climate change and a high-profile proponent of the discredited idea of using the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a cure for Covid-19.
The model is Fox News — including the clashing talking heads and incendiary cultural topics — and it has worked. Owned by the French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, former chairman of the media group Vivendi, CNews increasingly helps shape the national debate, especially on hot-button issues like crime, immigration and Islam’s place in France that are expected to sway next year’s presidential election.
The network’s extraordinary influence and contentious role in France were made even clearer this week, when its most popular host was forced off the air because he is regarded as a likely candidate for president — and one with a real chance of upending the race. » | Norimitsu Onishi | Tuesday, September 4, 2021
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