(RSF/IFEX) – In a 13 November 2001 letter to Dominique Baudis, president of the Audio-visual Upper Council (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, CSA), RSF expressed its concern about the CSA’s recent recommendations concerning the handling of information about the conflict in Afghanistan, and its recent reminder to the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera of its responsibilities. “The […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a 13 November 2001 letter to Dominique Baudis, president of the Audio-visual Upper Council (Conseil supérieur de l’audiovisuel, CSA), RSF expressed its concern about the CSA’s recent recommendations concerning the handling of information about the conflict in Afghanistan, and its recent reminder to the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera of its responsibilities.
“The absence of controls on information content for audio-visual media has been well established in France over the past two decades. Until now, the CSA has only intervened in the information field in particular instances, outside the provisions which aim to ensure a plurality of political opinions on stations. We ask you to ensure that no controls on the content of information are reestablished in France because of the current conflict,” stated Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general. “It is not surprising that the British authorities have sought the means to better control a media outlet that is impossible to ignore in the current conflict. We ask you to avoid any discriminatory targeting of information broadcast by the Al-Jazeera channel, and that you treat them exactly the same way as oher conventional foreign channels,” added Ménard.
According to information collected by RSF, on 3 October, the CSA announced “recommendations for all radio and television stations regarding the handling of information linked to the current international situation”, in which the council urged them to pay particular attention to the respect of republican values in the handling of information, because of the current conflict. Moreover, on 7 November, the CSA asked the Qatar-based news channel Al-Jazeera to respect its contractual and legal obligations, accusing it of broadcasting live images without providing context, and broadcasting false information without subsequently providing the necessary corrections. The CSA did not intercede with the Al-Jazeera channel in the context of a contract renewal but rather after being verbally approached by the British authorities. The agreement that the Qatari news channel signed in 1999 with the CSA, which was renewed in July, allows it to broadcast throughout the European Union.
RSF believes that in the information field, where professional requirements (such as the need to include a date and mention the source of the information) originate from ethical considerations rather than any regulation, the absence of an authority that is authorised to control information is an essential guarantee of the continued right and freedom to inform in France. RSF notes that until now, in the information field, the CSA, which guarantees the exercise of the freedom of audio-visual communication in France, has only intervened very rarely outside the provisions that aim to ensure the plurality of political opinions on stations. Article 1 of the Audio-visual Law of 17 January 1989 stipulates that the free exercise of audio-visual activities “can only be limited through measures aimed to ensure, on the one hand, the respect of a person’s dignity, liberty and the property of others, and the pluralistic character of the expression of trends of thought and opinion, and, on the other hand, by the safeguarding of public order and national defence”. The recommendations issued by the CSA on 3 October underline that, in a period of tension and conflict, operators’ respect for the limitations imposed by law are all the more important.
RSF has condemned the openly discriminatory measures imposed against Al-Jazeera journalists since 11 September in European Union countries, notably Switzerland. The organisation regularly compiles a listing of attacks against press freedom in Western democracies, in the context of the current conflict.
