The National Rally (RN), leading the voting intentions in France, promises to privatize all public broadcasting in the country. This “threat of privatization is an instrument of psychological warfare,” says media historian Alexis Lévrier.
The threat is brewing on French public broadcasting. The question of its very survival is raised. “The privatization of the public audiovisual service means 3 billion euros in savings,” argued Sébastien Chenu, spokesperson for the RN, at the microphone of BFM TV at the beginning of June. The president of the RN, Jordan Bardella, then confirmed that the party would carry out this project if it wins the legislative elections on July 7. For the moment, the precise terms of this campaign promise remain unclear.
For Antoine Chuzeville, central union delegate at France Télévisions interviewed by The dutythis RN project illustrates the “obsession of the National Rally to attack public broadcasting”. “This is not new. It makes us desperate and it worries us enormously, but it does not surprise us.”
The privatization project has been carried out by the RN for several years. In 2022, such a measure appeared in Marine Le Pen’s presidential program, entitled “22 measures for 2022”. Privatizing French audiovisual “would strengthen it against platforms like Netflix”, according to the party program.
Similar ideas are circulating in Canada. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre promises to “defund” CBC, but to protect Radio-Canada. His party has been attacking the public broadcaster for years. Radio-Canada’s mandate could also be reviewed before the next federal election, announced the Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, in December.
Privatization, a “Jupiterian” measure
Such a measure would establish “a Jupiterian practice and a very vertical power,” explains historian and media specialist Alexis Lévrier. But this ideological project appears unrealistic to him.
Mr. Lévrier believes that if the RN were to seize power, the party would proceed with a purge within the audiovisual sector rather than a total privatization. “In my opinion, this threat of privatization is an instrument of psychological warfare. Perhaps the party will privatize some public media, but I believe that the RN would rather wipe the slate clean and encourage journalists to keep quiet.”
The RN is not alone in thinking about an overhaul of public broadcasting. The Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, announced last month the possible creation of “France Médias”, a merger of France Télévisions, Radio France and the National Audiovisual Institute, which would come into force at the beginning of 2026 Discussions on this project from the Attal-Macron government, which were to take place on June 17, were postponed due to lack of deputies.
“The merger is less serious [que la privatisation]because we would still remain a public service. But it would be a reorganization that does not seem relevant, not adapted and dangerous to us. So, we mobilized against it,” says Mr. Chuzeville. In May, several audiovisual unions had called for a strike in protest against the reform.
The union delegate observes great solidarity coming from other French political parties, employees and audiovisual unions who oppose this measure. According to a letter from the Union of Independent Producers, signed by 41 French professional organizations, this RN proposal “can directly destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs and an entire section of the economy”. It is recalled that the radio and television sectors have more than 300,000 employees.
Privatizing public broadcasting would force private organizations, already numerous in France, to share a declining advertising offering. Television revenues linked to advertising are expected to decline by 1.4% per year between 2022 and 2030, with the trend accelerating from 2026, according to a study by Arcom and the General Directorate of Media and Communications. cultural industries of the Ministry of Culture published last January.
“The pie would not necessarily be bigger and more actors would share it. Consequently, the good of privatization would not be of the value of [3 milliards] that the RN attributes to him for the moment,” considers Mr. Lévrier.
A measure coveted across Europe
Last March, the European Parliament adopted the European Media Freedom Act, which aims to ensure that “public service media providers have sufficient, sustainable and predictable financial resources corresponding to the accomplishment of their public service mission “. The Law also limits the risks linked to media concentration.
However, conservative pressure to undermine funding for public services is growing in Europe. The far right is calling in Germany for the abolition of the broadcasting licence fee. In the United Kingdom, budget cuts have been announced for the BBC. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is said to be a “predator on press freedom” and to be imposing “political, economic and regulatory pressure” on the media, according to Reporters Without Borders.
In 2023, the Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, carried out a reform of the public broadcasting sector (which she accused of being too left-wing) by pushing the former boss of Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI) to resign. Potential reforms, which include a reduction in public funding, are also discussed. “Our colleagues at RAI are going through very difficult times, with extremely strong pressure. This was also the case in Poland, it was the case in Hungary. This obsession with privatizing the audiovisual sector is only carried by the far right,” deplores Mr. Chuzeville.
This global interest of the right in the privatization of the media can be explained by a desire to control a weakened sector, argues Mr. Lévrier. “In a context where the audiovisual sector is weakened and is uncertain about its financing, I think that the RN has every interest in seizing this public sector to purge it, to place people there and to make it a tool propaganda. In my opinion, this is what will happen. »