French television channel France 24’s coverage of current affairs in Senegal has been denounced by the government, which has called it “biased”.
“The government of Senegal is surprised to see, once again, tendentious media coverage of political news in Senegal for several months by the television channel France 24”said a statement from the Senegalese government on Saturday.
Signed by the Minister of Communication, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, Moussa Bocar Thiam, the document underlines that “this unethical, unbalanced, tendentious and subversive treatment of information on Senegal is evident in the analysis of their bulletins, programs, interviews and writings broadcast repeatedly on the channel”.
“While an opposition deputy, during a press conference, publicly insulted and defamed heads of state, then apologized, the France 24 channel justified his custody by its position on the speech to the nation of the President of the Republic, which is manifestly fallacious”notes the same source, noting that “this insidious way of covering the news in Senegal was noticed during the violent demonstrations of June 2023, going so far as to try to discredit the communication of the Senegalese police”.
The statement further notes that“in the aftermath of the historic address to the Nation hailed by the living forces of Senegal and the international community, the France 24 channel is still the relay of subversive messages”.
“The government strongly condemns this tendentious coverage of the news in Senegal by the France 24 channel, while recalling that any press company must take the necessary measures to guarantee compliance with the principles and rules laid down by the legal, regulatory and contractual provisions. in force “underlines the press release, which specifies in this regard that “the foreign press is subject to the same legal requirements as the national media, which must in no way compromise with the truth”.
In conclusion, the government “consequently demands that the France 24 channel restore the truth and refrain in the future from damaging the reputation of Senegal through tendentious information”.