Oh, France absolutely funds it for propaganda reasons, and that was one of the stated reasons of forcing RFI to joint the new, state-backed international Radio-TV group a couple of years ago. That's not even some hidden, secret motivation. It was stated publicly.

I'm just saying that the dog doesn't always (emphasis on "always") go where the masters want it to go, particularly when the masters come and go at the whim of the voters but the dog is always there.