CNews faces regulatory request over climate coverage and misinformation

The Fondation Jean-Jaurès and the association QuotaClimat have formally requested that Arcom, the French audiovisual regulator, issue a formal notice to the news channel CNews. The request follows a study analyzing environmental coverage across four major news channels—CNews, BFMTV, LCI, and franceinfo—during July 2025.

The study alleges that CNews provides disproportionately low coverage of environmental issues, dedicating only 2% of its airtime to the subject, compared to an average of 3.4% across the four channels. Furthermore, the researchers claim that CNews was responsible for 63 of the 98 instances of climate misinformation detected during the period, representing 64% of the total cases.

Additional criticisms include the channel's tendency to frame environmental topics through controversy, with 69% of long sequences involving contentious issues such as renewable energy. The organizations argue that CNews fails to meet requirements for pluralism and information honesty. CNews has contested the study, describing it as being based on a limited scope and questionable methodology, while asserting its commitment to editorial freedom.