Despite tensions and disagreements over its content, the parliamentary commission of inquiry into TNT finally adopted this Tuesday, May 7, the report of LFI deputy Aurélien Saintoul, which will be made public on May 14, AFP learned from several sources. of its members.
Until the end, this commission of inquiry was the source of very strong tensions between its different members. The elected representatives of the presidential majority had asked Insoumis this Tuesday to withdraw some of its 47 proposals, deemed too anti-CNews or C8, or off topic. Aurélien Saintoul then denounced “blackmail” and an “attempt at censorship”. He congratulated himself after the vote on a “victory for the rebels”.
The president of the commission of inquiry Quentin Bataillon (Renaissance) found an “unprecedented” solution, he explained to AFP: “the nine proposals that we consider unacceptable, out of 47, will appear as personal proposals of the rapporteur”, which allows the presidential majority not to endorse them. These are proposals “calling into question the future of DTT”, such as the elimination of the Canal + group’s paid channel model. Another proposal “undermines freedom of the press”, according to Quentin Bataillon, in that it suggests the renunciation of editorialists on news channels. The report was finally able to be adopted thanks to the votes of the left and certain Macronists, others having abstained.
Open war Saintoul – Battalion
This report is the conclusion of this commission of inquiry, initiated by LFI, which has carried out nearly 45 hearings over the last six months, including the audiovisual regulator, Arcom, the bosses of numerous public and private channels, as well as as the star presenters of C8 and CNews like Cyril Hanouna and Pascal Praud. On the menu: the question of channel control, that of strengthening sanctions in the event of non-compliance with their obligations, and again that of pluralism.
But towards the end of the hearings, this commission of inquiry transformed into a real open war between its two main figures, its Renaissance president, Quentin Bataillon, and therefore the Insoumis rapporteur, Aurélien Saintoul, with opposing visions on the objective auditions. These tensions were embodied by Quentin Bataillon’s controversial appearance on the set of the show Do not touch My TV by Cyril Hanouna, where he did not hesitate to criticize the rival show Dailyand its presenter Yann Barthès.
“An attempt at censorship in the service of their friend Bolloré”
Of the 47 proposals contained in the report, the deputies of the presidential majority, allied to the LR, had first, according to LFI, requested the withdrawal of 19.
In the eyes of the elected LFI, “the Macronists are looking for a pretext to bury the report, which contains damning elements with regard to the Canal + group and its channels CNews and C8, in the bosom of the conservative billionaire Vincent Bolloré. “C “It’s clearly an attempted coup, an attempt at censorship in the service of their friend Bolloré,” he denounced to AFP.
On the social network X (formerly Twitter), a little earlier this Tuesday afternoon, Aurélien Saintoul affirmed that “from 19, the Macronists have now moved to 9 measures which they wish to see disappear from my report on TNT”. Before adding: “Problem: we do not accept blackmail. They still have 2 hours to become reasonable”. He will have finally won his case, with his report which will be well published, thanks to this compromise found with the president of the commission Quentin Bataillon to publish these controversial conclusions in his own name.
A non-publication, an exceptional case
Aurélien Saintoul also plans two reports to the courts, after studying documents and hearing channel managers, he told AFP without further details. The MP carried out a “documentary and on-site inspection” at Canal +, as authorized by his role as rapporteur of the commission of inquiry. He himself wants the authorizations of CNews and C8 on TNT not to be renewed.
If the report had not been adopted, it would have been archived without being made public – the case is exceptional, the latest to have suffered this fate was that of the commission of inquiry into the financing of trade union organizations in 2011. Authorizing the publication of an investigation report must be the rule,” Christine Pires Beaune, spokesperson for the Socialist deputies, told the press, while emphasizing that the proposals “only commit the rapporteur.”