Coverage of European issues has increased in French broadcast media due to the war in Ukraine but remains limited, according to the Fondation Jean-Jaurès think tank, which proposes binding targets to increase reporting.

Read the original French story here.

For several years, the Fondation Jean-Jaurès, a centre-left think-tank, has assessed the extent of EU-related coverage in French media.

In its study for 2022, the think-tank notes that, despite the importance of EU-level decisions, the bloc and its institutions are still poorly covered by French radio and television stations – and this despite the fact the war in Ukraine has led to a doubling in the the volume of coverage in audiovisual media.

For instance, EU-related coverage has risen from 2.1% in 2021 to 5.7% in 2022 – surpassing the previous peak of 4.8% recorded during the 2019 European elections.

The French think tank also highlights a significant difference in treatment between private and public sector channels.

Compared to public service broadcaster France 24, all-news channels had significantly less European coverage in 2022.

France 24 devoted 5.9% of its airtime to European subjects between 2020 and 2022, while CNEWS and LCI, both privately owned, devoted around 2% of their coverage to European topics. For BFMTV, France’s leading news channel, the proportion is just 1.5%.

Regarding radio broadcasters, the figures are more or less the same: 3.2% of stories on France Inter (public radio) have to do with the EU. The figure is lower on Europe 1 (2.2%), franceinfo (2%), RMC (1.7%) and RTL (1.3%).

The difference between public and privately owned media can partly be explained by most private channels not having any permanent Brussels correspondents.

Given the cost of posting a correspondent and the moderate interest shown by viewers in European issues, this did not necessarily make sense, a manager at the LCI channel told EURACTIV France.

He blamed the EU institutions, which he said are not proactive in communicating with national media.

Ukraine, EU presidency, Qatargate

Last year, there was a boost in EU-related coverage because of the war in Ukraine and because France took over the helm of the EU Council presidency for the first half of 2022.

Also contributing to the increase in European coverage were the energy crisis and the Qatargate scandal

According to the think tank, coverage related to the European Parliament has been focused on the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech and French President Emmanuel Macron’s speech to MEPs.

But the study also showed that EU leaders had spoken more to French media in 2022 compared to 2016-2020.

How to increase EU coverage?

To ensure coverage of EU-related topics in France, the Fondation Jean-Jaurès proposes that the government provides public media with precise targets and ensure these are included in contracts on aims and resources struck between the publically owned media and the state.

For private broadcasters, the think tank recommends the government ensure that the coverage of European affairs is listed “among the ethical obligations of private broadcasters” and enforce this via the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisual and Digital Communication, known as Arcom.

But private channels have rejected this solution.

According to the manager of LCI asked by EURACTIV France, it risks being counter-productive in terms of fostering EU support, as it could turn off viewers and make them feel that European news is imposed and coerced by the State.

Yet this was the main request made by a group of French MPs of Culture Minister Rima Abdul Malak in a letter sent in May.

For them, there is a need for “increased knowledge [by citizens] of European victories, but also of its shortcomings.” The lawmakers are also calling for more information to be broadcast about how the European Union “works and what it does on a daily basis.”

In the run-up to the European elections of 2024, this is “a democratic issue”, they add, and “the absence of any real figures does not sufficiently encourage [issuers] to take a full interest in the subject”.

The MPs have not yet received a response from the government.

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