(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt from RSF’s report “Chronicle of a state media hijack”: Seizing control of the state media was one of the linchpins of President Laurent Gbagbo’s failed bid to recover all of Cote d’Ivoire’s territory. In just one morning, on 4 November, supporters of the president and his party succeeded […]
(RSF/IFEX) – The following is an excerpt from RSF’s report “Chronicle of a state media hijack”:
Seizing control of the state media was one of the linchpins of President Laurent Gbagbo’s failed bid to recover all of Cote d’Ivoire’s territory. In just one morning, on 4 November, supporters of the president and his party succeeded in hijacking Radiotélévision ivoirienne (RTI) and Radio Côte d’Ivoire (RCI).
A new staff of presenters and journalists ready to take editorial orders was put in place. From this day on and throughout rioting that shook Abidjan for nearly a week, TV and radio broadcasts descended into peddling propaganda, relaying incitement to murder, putting out lies and orders to foment violence in the street.
Even if the tone on the airwaves has been somewhat modified, activism still holds sway within the Ivorian state-owned media and the “parallel” management imposed on RTI on the 4 November is still in place, completely illegally.
“In a democracy nothing can justify a political clan submitting state-owed media to its diktats,” said Reporters Without Borders.
“RTI and RCI need to operate again in a professional and calm atmosphere and free from government control for the return to normality heralded by the Ivorian authorities not to appear as a sham,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
“The legitimate team, led by Kébé Yacouba, should be allowed to operate normally again as soon as possible, in line with the job entrusted to it by the president of the republic in January 2004. In addition all public media staff should be provided with the means to work in safety.”
A general manager put in place under escort
At daybreak on 4 November, on the orders of President Laurent Gbagbo, Côte d’Ivoire’s national armed forces (Fanci) launched operation “Dignity”. Their objective was to forcibly retake the north of the country, in the hands of insurgents since 19 September 2002.
At around 9am the same day, a significant military detachment took up a position in the courtyard of RTI, in the Abidjan’s Cocody quarter. Civilian vehicles followed in their wake. Out of them stepped Georges Aboké, the channel’s former managing director, Jean-Paul Dahily, its former general secretary and an advisor to the president, and Silvère Nebout, the head of state’s communications advisor. They were escorted to the top floor of the building where the management offices are located.
To read the full report visit: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12039
