France 24 slammed for 'biased' coverage of political events in Senegal
Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Senegalese government on Saturday slammed the French news channel, France 24, for its "biased media coverage of political events" in the West African country.
In a communiqué issued by the Minister of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Moussa Bocar Thiam, the government said it was surprised at the "tendentious coverage of political events" by the television channel.
More specifically, the Senegalese government condemned the channel's "unethical, unbalanced, tendentious and subversive treatment of information about Senegal [which] is evident from an analysis of their bulletins, broadcasts, interviews and writings, which are broadcast over and over again on the channel".
It noted that this "insidious" way of covering news in the country was noticed during the violent demonstrations last month, "going so far as to attempt to undermine the credibility of the Senegalese police force".
It said the day after President Macky Sall announced in a broadcast that he would not run for a third term, "which was hailed by Senegal's living forces and the international community, the France 24 channel was still relaying subversive messages".
The government "strongly" condemned "this tendentious coverage" of current events in Senegal by the France 24 channel, pointing out that "all media organisations must take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the principles and rules laid down by the legal, regulatory and contractual provisions in force".
The communique said that the foreign media is subject to the same legal requirements as the national media, which must in no way compromise the truth.
A France 24 correspondent in Dakar said he had "no comment to make", indicating that the management "will certainly not fail" to respond to the Senegalese government's reproaches.
-0- PANA APS ASG/JSG/SOC/BBA/MA 8July2023
