However, according to French telecoms regulator CSA, which regularly publishes statistics on the amount of air time devoted to each candidate, Macron actually received marginally less airtime on BFMTV than Fillon between the publication of official candidate lists and April 2 — although both men received significantly more than Le Pen.

Source: CSA. Air time devoted to each candidate by BFMTV from the publication of candidate lists to April 2. The four bands cover broadcasts from 06:00–09:30, 09:30–18:00, 18:00–24:00, and 00:00–06:00.

More broadly, Sputnik France’s approach seems to have been to amplify accusations against Macron without giving adequate coverage of his response. For example, an interviewee on March 7 accused Macron of corruption. Sputnik devoted fourteen paragraphs to the accusations; the only reference to Macron’s position was contained in one of the many quotes from his accuser.

Similarly, the March 21 article on the presidential debate, held between the five leading candidates, quoted every one of them except Macron.

Not all of Sputnik France’s coverage of Macron was negative. A few articles could be construed as positive, as they documented the decision by leading French politicians to join his campaign (such as two articles on March 9). One even included an interview explaining Macron’s popularity among socialist politicians.

However, overall, the balance of Sputnik’s French reporting has been tilted against Macron.

Le Pen

Criticism, and in-depth investigation, of any politician is a vital role for the media, especially in an election season; however, the approach must also be balanced. This is especially true for state-sponsored outlets such as Sputnik.

In fact, Sputnik’s critical approach to Macron has not been matched by a critical approach to his main rival, Le Pen. She has benefited from broadly uncritical coverage, headlining her repeatedly, and playing down attacks.

On March 27 alone, for example, Le Pen was headlined in four successive articles: one reporting her increasing support in opinion polls, one quoting her as predicting the death of the EU, and two quoting her as attacking her rivals. In total, that day, Sputnik France listed eight articles in its “France” news section; of the other four, one attacked Macron, one supported Fillon and two were unrelated to the election.

Source: Sputnik France. Screenshot of articles on March 27.

Compared with the attacks on Macron, Sputnik’s coverage of Le Pen has been less critical, despite the fact that she is under investigation for allegedly fraudulent payments to staff during her time in the European Parliament.

One article on March 10, for example, quoted her parliamentary assistant accusing other parties of the same wrongdoing; nine paragraphs were dedicated to his comments, none to any other point of view. A follow-up article on March 26 reported six paragraphs of Le Pen’s comments, without giving other points of view. The Sapir opinion piece of March 6, which attacked the corruption scandals around Fillon and Macron, did not mention the case against Le Pen.

Other pieces have reported Le Pen’s stance without giving a balancing view. These include her accusations against the media on April 2, her speech against the EU on March 27, and her claim of secret state surveillance the same day.

Four days before the first election round, on April 19, one curious piece even headlined that Le Pen had declared her love for cats.