Following the hearings of the presidents of France Télévisions and Radio France, Arcom wishes to pursue its work on the impartiality of public service broadcasting.
On Wednesday September 17, 2025, the French regulatory authority for audiovisual and digital communication (Autorité de régulation de la communication audiovisuel et numérique) successively interviewed the chairwomen of France Télévisions and Radio France.
These hearings followed on from the submissions of a case before the court since the diffusion, on Friday September 5, of videos concerning journalists working for the public audiovisuel service.
Arcom points out that, by law, it is not empowered to rule on videos that have not been shown on air, nor on compliance with journalists' professional ethics, which fall within the competence of their employers. It does, however, act as guarantor of the impartiality and independence of the public audiovisual industry.
The Authority has taken note of the decisions taken by Radio France and the opinions issued by the ethics committees of France Télévisions and Radio France following the diffusion of these videos. It has also taken note of the discussions undertaken by the two companies following its deliberation of July 18, 2024 on respect for the principle of plurality of currents of thought and opinion in the audiovisual media.
Against a backdrop of mistrust towards institutions and the media, in France as in other European countries, Arcom wishes to pursue and deepen its work aimed at reinforcing the impartiality of public audiovisual media and measuring public perception of them.
After deliberation, and taking into account the internal steps already taken by the two companies, the Arcom board has decided to launch :
- a project designed to objectivise the concretescope of the impartiality requirement applying specifically to the audiovisuel public service, as recommended in 2024 by the report of the Etats Généraux de l'Information;
- an independent quantitative and qualitative study of public perceptions and expectations in this area, involving the ethics committees of both companies;
- a review of existing schemes and tools within public service audiovisuel channels and stations (charters, ethics committee, ombudsman, complaints management, etc.), which could be enriched in the light of similar work already carried out in Europe, in particular by the British regulator (Ofcom) in relation to the BBC, and aimed at reinforcing the independence and impartiality of the public service.
Press release
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