Environment · Media Observatory on Ecology · Science Feedback · 532 verified cases · 18 channels.
Climate misinformation: 532 verified cases in French audiovisual media
How much false or misleading climate speech appears on French TV and radio since January 2025, and which outlets and narratives concentrate verified cases?
Overview: weekly trend
Weekly verified climate misinformation cases
Data details
Verified cases (total)
532
Sum across 18 monitored audiovisual channels
Volume leader
CNews · 148 cases
Channel with the most verified cases
Intensity leader
Sud Radio · 1.47 cases/h
Cases per hour of climate coverage
Top narrative cluster
Renewables and electricity prices · 125 cases
Dominant narrative cluster (Energy solutions)
Key facts
- 532 verified cases across 18 monitored audiovisual channels.
- CNews leads in absolute volume (148 cases), far ahead of public broadcasters (France 2, France 3, RFI: 4 cases combined).
- Sud Radio shows the highest intensity (1.47 cases per hour of climate coverage), a metric distinct from raw volume.
- Narratives targeting renewable energy account for 64% of narrative-tagged cases (ENR et prix de l'électricité · 125 cases).
- Public vs private split: 89 cases on public media vs 443 on private outlets.
Climate misinformation on French TV and radio: reading the numbers
The Media Observatory on Ecology and Science Feedback track false or misleading climate claims in 18 French audiovisual channels since January 2025. Each case is manually verified after automated pre-screening.
Volume · Volume vs intensity
Volume vs intensity
"Two rankings that do not match"
CNews and France Info TV lead in absolute volume (148 and 48 cases) because they devote extensive airtime to climate.
Sud Radio and Europe 1 lead on intensity (1.47 and 0.75 cases/hour of climate coverage): less total volume, but a higher misinformation density in climate segments.
Renewables · Energy narratives
Energy narratives
"Energy transition at the centre of recurring claims"
About 64% of narrative-tagged cases concern energy solutions (electricity prices, intermittency, subsidies, nuclear).
These themes overlap with debates already covered on the electricity mix and regional renewable production: here the angle is verified media discourse, not technology performance.
Peak · June 2025 spike
June 2025 spike
"116 cases in one week"
The week of 2025-06-30 records 116 verified cases (weekly median: 8). The prior week (2025-06-23) had 57.
10 channels contribute. The top four (CNews, Europe 1, LCI, Sud Radio) account for 97 cases (84 %). CNews alone has 50 cases (43 %), mostly on Information en continu.
Continuous news slots (« Information en continu ») total 82 cases (71 %). Other top programmes: CNews · Information en continu (50) · LCI · Information en continu (16) · BFM TV · Information en continu (6).
This week follows the National Assembly review (16-19 June 2025) of the 2025-2035 energy-climate programming bill and its rejection on 24 June (377 votes against, 142 for, National Assembly).
Why multiple series?
Why such gaps between outlets? Format (continuous news vs magazine shows), airtime devoted to climate and editorial positioning shape both raw volume and the per-hour rate. Renewables narratives dominate because the energy transition is the most debated climate policy topic in French public discourse.
Analogy: counting misinformation cases is like tracking weather alerts on radio. A continuous news channel (CNews, BFM) generates more alerts than a generalist outlet, but intensity per hour of climate coverage can be higher on talk radio.
What this is not
- Audiovisual scope only: no print media, no social networks.
- 18 monitored channels, not an exhaustive map of the French media landscape.
- Counts verified false or misleading claims, not proven disinformation intent.
- Narrative totals can exceed channel totals (multi-tagging and thematic clustering).
- AI pre-screen + human review pipeline (Science Feedback): aggregated data, not official statistics.
Volume vs intensity by channel
2 channels with no detected cases (M6, RFI) not shown.
Top 8 climate misinformation narratives
What these figures do not show
Audiovisual data only (TV and radio), excluding print and social media. 18 monitored channels, non-exhaustive list. Counts verified false or misleading claims, not proven disinformation intent. Narrative totals (611 tagged cases) can exceed channel totals (532 cases) due to multi-tagging. AI-assisted detection and human verification pipeline (Science Feedback). Dual-pillar insight: measures public discourse on climate policy, not environmental outcomes.
Sources
État de la mésinformation climatique dans les médias audiovisuels (2025)Observatoire des Médias sur l'Écologie · Science Feedback · 2026-05-29