Crisis between public service and Bolloré media: Marine Le Pen demands the departure of Delphine Ernotte, the head of France Télévisions

Marine Le Pen on Saturday called for the resignation of Delphine Ernotte, the head of France Télévisions, "a very left-wing activist" who, according to the leader of the RN deputies, has stepped out of "her role" by describing CNews as far-right.

"It's an open secret that Ms. Ernotte is a very left-wing activist. But here, she's taken it a step further," lamented Ms. Le Pen in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) , a media outlet owned by conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré, like CNews.

By describing CNews as a "far-right channel" in a recent interview with Le Monde, Ms. Ernotte "is absolutely not playing her role," further denounced Ms. Le Pen, who recommends the privatization of public broadcasting.

" (...) this type of outburst should lead to her departure. Because it is not up to the president of France Télévisions to distribute certificates of good repute to private channels," she insisted.

A war is currently raging between the media of the Vincent Bolloré galaxy and public broadcasting, in the wake of the Legrand-Cohen affair, in which two public service journalists are accused of collusion with the Socialist Party.

A war for several months

The Bolloré galaxy's media accuse those of Radio France and France Télévisions of bias in favor of the left, and they respond by appealing to Arcom, the audiovisual regulator, as well as to the public authorities.

In this context, Ms. Ernotte added another coin to the coin by saying: "We must admit that CNews is an opinion media. Let them accept that they are a far-right channel!"

For Ms. Le Pen, these cases are a sign that " we must privatize public broadcasting."

"Neutrality is required of public service, not private channels. The existence of opinion media doesn't shock me. But a public service funded by the French must be irreproachably neutral, and it isn't ," she argued.

"A great democracy like France has no reason to spend 4 billion a year on a partisan media behemoth," she also insisted.