RIGHT-CENTER BIAS
These media sources are slightly to moderately conservative in bias. They often publish factual information that utilizes loaded words (wording that attempts to influence an audience by appealing to emotion or stereotypes) to favor conservative causes. These sources are generally trustworthy for information but may require further investigation. See all Right-Center sources.
- Overall, we rate Le Figaro Right-Center biased based on story selection and editorial positions that moderately favor the right. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record.
Detailed Report
Bias Rating: RIGHT-CENTER
Factual Reporting: HIGH
Country: France
Press Freedom Rating: MOSTLY FREE
Media Type: Newspaper
Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic
MBFC Credibility Rating: HIGH CREDIBILITY
History
Launched in 1826, Le Figaro is a daily newspaper based in Paris, France. The paper consists of three weeklies: Le Figaro Magazine, Madame Figaro, and TV Magazine. The paper covers French current events, world news, economy, sports, politics, and lifestyle. Le Figaro’s editorial stance is considered Centre-Right.
In 1975, Socpresse, owned by the Hersant family, bought Le Figaro and in 1999, the Carlyle Group (American Investment firm) obtained 40% of Le Figaro. In 2004, Serge Dassault took control of Socpresse and eventually bought all the shares.
Groupe Dassault was owned by conservative politician (A member of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement party – UMP and a predecessor of Les Républicains), Serge Dassault when he inherited Dassault Aviation following the death of his father—French aircraft industrialist World War I aircraft-designer Marcel Dassault. Dassault Aviation, a subsidiary of the Dassault Group, builds the Rafale combat aircraft and Falcon business jets. According to Bloomberg, Dassault Aviation was the French air force’s largest supplier in the ’60s, and as of 2020, Dassault Aviation is one of the top 25 arms companies globally.
Following Serge Dassault’s death in 2018, Charles Edelstenne became the board chairman as Serge’s eldest son Olivier Dassault was an MP of Les Republicains party. and wanted to avoid a conflict of interest. Charles Edelstenne and his family own around 6% of Dassault Systèmes; Serge Dassault’s other son Thierry Dassault is a director at Groupe Dassault, Serge Dassault’s 3 children split the estate equally when in 2021, his eldest son Olivier Dassault died in a helicopter crash. The editor-in-chief of Le Figaro is Alexis Brézet.
Read our profile on France’s Media and Government.
Funded by / Ownership
Dassault Group owns Le Figaro through Groupe Figaro. Le Figaro generates revenue from subscriptions and advertising.
Analysis / Bias
Le Figaro’s ownership by Serge Dassault and his late son was subject to conflict-of-interest, as both of them were members of the center-right political party Les Républicains. Further, the Dassault Group produces the Rafale combat aircraft for the military, which is often subject to corrupt business dealings and “influence peddling” allegations such as “French judge tasked with investigating Rafale fighter jet sale to India.”
In review, Le Figaro publishes articles with the AFP such as this interview with President Macron and Elle Magazine, “Emmanuel Macron is alarmed by a “society which is racialized.” They also report on climate change and global warming related news from a pro-science consensus perspective such as “Climate: “The worst is yet to come,” according to IPCC experts” and “Dome of heat”: could France experience temperature peaks of 50 ° C?” sourcing from the IPCC.
Editorially, Le Figaro publishes articles from a conservative perspective regarding topics such as political correctness, for example, “Éric Zemmour: “Why ‘political correctness’ criminalizes freedom of thought.” Eric Zemmour is a far-right TV personality and writer for Le Figaro who is considering running for president in the future French far-right TV personality Eric Zemmour mulls presidential bid, alarming Marine Le Pen. In general, Le Figaro reports factually and uses a wide variety of credible sources, however editorially, they promote right-center positions on most issues.
Failed Fact Checks
- None in the Last 5 years
Overall, we rate Le Figaro Right-Center biased based on story selection and editorial positions that moderately favor the right. We also rate them High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record. (M. Huitsing 7/4/2021)
Source: https://www.lefigaro.fr/
Last Updated on May 31, 2023 by Media Bias Fact Check
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Left vs. Right Bias: How we rate the bias of media sources