Fox News culture comes to Europe

Right-wing TV networks – France’s CNews and Britain’s upcoming GB News – seek to challenge establishment views

Right-wing journalist Eric Zemmour (left) specialises in attempting to "clean up" the darker episodes of France’s history during his chat shows on CNews. PHOTOS: AFP, REUTERS
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The United States remains home to the largest number of explicitly right-wing media outlets. From the evangelical radio stations which revolutionised their medium during the 1980s and 1990s to Fox News Channel which did the same for television during the past two decades and is now the most watched cable news TV network, the US nurtures an entire ecosystem of right-wing journalism.

But as the old saying goes, where the US leads, Europe follows. A French TV network called CNews where commentators lead heated talk shows devoted to subjects beloved by right-wingers such as the alleged connection between crime and immigrants, has just hit record viewing figures, an extraordinary achievement in a country where established media networks - many state-funded or state-protected - were assumed to throttle any competition.

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