Censorship in France - Press

Press

The press is largely unrestricted by law in France, although indirect pressures are sometimes applied to prevent publication of materials against the interests of the government or influential industries. Involvement of the government and major industrial groups, sometimes with political ties, with certain press organizations sometimes raises questions as to the ability of the press to remain truly independent and unrestricted. Examples include:

• the Agence France-Presse (AFP), an internationally active news agency used by the media worldwide, is a public corporation nominally independent from the government, but derives a lot of its revenue from sales to government;
• Radio France International (RFI) is funded by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and is sometimes criticized for its cover of former French colonies
• Serge Dassault, businessman involved in warplanes, and thus in government procurement contracts, (see Dassault Aviation) and senator from the ruling UMP party, owns newspapers including Le Figaro; he famously indicated that he intended his papers to reflect only "healthy ideas" (idées saines) and that left-wing ideas were unhealthy;
• the Bouygues group, a major operator of public works and thus of government procurement contracts, owns the TF1 TV channel, which has the largest audience.

In addition, most of the press depends on advertisement to generate revenue; the question of independence from advertisers is a constant and contentious one, with repeat assertions that undesirable investigations were descheduled from TV broadcasts.

However, there are outstanding examples of freedom and independence of the press, including the Canard enchaîné, a newspaper that is known for its scoops and its brazen publication thereof, even against the will of the government. The Canard does not accept advertising in order to remain truly independent.