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SendThe Ivorian press is already in full election campaign although the presidential election initially scheduled for 29 November has been postponed (without a new date so far being set), Reporters Without Borders found during a visit to Côte d’Ivoire last month that included meetings with President Laurent Gbagbo and the staff of many newspapers.
Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard and Africa desk officer Ambroise Pierre visited Abidjan from 9 to 11 November to evaluate the current media situation and recommend measures to guarantee press freedom ahead of the elections.
They urged media executives and journalists to behave professionally and encouraged regulatory bodies to respect diverse political views. They also announced that Reporters Without Borders would monitor the media’s performance during the election campaign, both quantitatively (distribution of airtime) and qualitatively (coverage of each candidate).
“The date of the presidential election may have been postponed but the press is already in election campaign mode,” Reporters Without Borders said. “In the run-up to an electoral period that will be delicate and decisive, we urge the media to show more respect for journalistic ethics and to defend editorial independence.”
The press freedom organisation added: “We have not forgotten the excesses of the past – including verbal abuse and calls for the ransacking of premises – in both the print media and state television. This must not recur.”
Diverse but poor quality media
The variety of publications in Abidjan is striking but their quality is very uneven. Newspapers tend to run sensationalist stories and often announce “investigations” or “special reports” with little substance. For example, the 11 November issue of the weekly Le Temps Hebdo announced that its next issue would contain an “explosive report” entitled: “Côte d’Ivoire presidential election – What France is preparing for election day. How Paris intends to give power to Ouattara. The fate reserved for Laurent Gbagbo and Konan Bédié.” But the report turned out to contain no credible information.
Ivorian officials complained about the media’s poor quality to Reporters Without Borders. “I prefer a press that is mediocre as a result of its own shortcomings rather than outside control,” President Gbagbo told Reporters Without Borders. Communication minister Ibrahim Sy Savané said: “Press freedom is being defended at the expense of quality.”
Recognising that the economic environment for the press is difficult, the communication minister welcomed the adoption of a collective agreement that is supposed to help journalists and ensure that a media assistance fund is operational.
But the media had a completely different view of this development. Several of them said they had not yet received any state assistance and did not think the collective agreement was workable. Print runs are relatively low – the total number of newspapers being sold nowadays is about the same as the print run of the state-owned Fraternité Matin alone 10 or 15 years ago – and distribution within the country is problematic.
Reporters Without Borders was disappointed to confirm in Abidjan that the Press Freedom, Ethics and Conduct Observatory (OLPED) – a unique and interesting experiment in self-regulation – is no longer functioning.
Media already in campaign mode
Usually described by observers as “poor” or “second-rate,” the Ivorian press is above all partisan. The so-called “blue” press (the dailies Notre Voie and Le Temps and the weekly Le Temps Hebdo) support President Gbagbo and the ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), while the “green” press (the daily Le Nouveau Réveil and the weekly Le Repère) backs former President Henri Konan Bédié and the opposition Côte d’Ivoire Democratic Party (PDCI). The daily Nord-Sud is owned by the allies of Prime Minister Guillaume Soro of the former rebel New Forces (FN) while the daily Le Patriote supports former Prime Minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara and the opposition Rally of the Republicans (RDR).
As 2009 draws to an end, the print media are already getting vicious. Shortly after Nord-Sud described Bédié as a “stray dog,” Le Nouveau Réveil responded with the headline “Presidential election: Soro talks crap after his visit to China,” for which it was sanctioned by the National Press Council. While Reporters Without Borders was in Abidjan, Notre Voie had the headline “Bédié sows hate and demagoguery” on 11 November, two days after Le Patriote referred to Gbagbo as the “king of false promises” and accused the FPI of “underhand dealing.”
As regards broadcasting, the Ivorian Civil Society Convention (CSCI), an NGO alliance, issued a statement on 1 December condemning the “complete lack of balance in the distribution of air-time among parties and politicians and civil society (…) during the pre-electoral period.” It said the ruling FPI and other pro-Gbagbo organisations were getting “better coverage” on the state-owned TV station RTI.
The opposition’s activities “are not sufficiently covered,” said CSCI national coordinator Patrick N’Gouan. The opposition PDCI previously denounced the state media’s takeover by ruling party hacks while the opposition RDR demanded “equal treatment” for candidates.
From RTI airtime reports provided by the National Council for Audiovisual Communication (CNCA), Reporters Without Borders was able to establish that in September, for example, the ruling FPI got more coverage than the PDCI and the RDR combined. Another hour or so of airtime was given to movements that support political parties, of which almost all were movements calling for Gbagbo’s reelection such as the Movement of Côte d’Ivoire Teachers who Love Gbagbo Laurent (MICIAGLA), the I Love Gbagbo Movement (MJG), the Fromager Youth Movement for a Gbagbo Victory (MJFV) and Elect Gbagbo in the First Round (GEPTO).
Northern media and liberalisation of broadcasting
Several of the people Reporters Without Borders met referred to the fact that RTI does not cover all of Côte d’Ivoire and that “pirate” radio and TV stations belonging to the former rebels have emerged in the north.
On 1 December, the CNCA announced decision No. 2009-07 “putting an immediate stop to all unauthorised television broadcasting in the centre, north and west” and requiring radio stations in these regions “to regularize their legal status within 30 days.” The former rebels immediately rejected the CNCA decision and said their stations would keep broadcasting.
When Reporters Without Borders asked President Gbagbo about opening up television to the private sector, he undertook to do it if reelected. “Yes, we will do it, I can assure you, but not now because it is not the right time. First of all, we have to proceed to elections calmly. Opening up television is not possible at the moment because it would definitely lead to excesses on the air. This is too delicate a period. But afterwards, yes, we will do it.”
The Reporters Without Borders delegation met President Laurent Gbagbo and communication minister Ibrahim Sy Savané; members of the National Council for Audiovisual Communication (CNCA) and National Press council (CNP); the chairman of the board of RadioTélévision Ivoirienne (RTI); the management and staff of Fraternité Matin, Notre Voie, Nord-Sud, Le Patriote, Le Nouveau Réveil, L’Intelligent d’Abidjan and the Olympe press group (Soir Info, L’Inter and Star Magazine); and the campaign staff of the ruling Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) and the Rally of the Republicans (RDR), the party of former Prime Minister Alassane Dramane Ouattara.
The meeting with the campaign staff of the Côte d’Ivoire Democratic Party (PDCI) of former President Henri Konan Bédié (now an opposition candidate) was postponed. Reporters Without Borders also met with the spokesman of the Truth for Guy-André Kieffer Collective, the head of the Journalists for Transparent Elections Observatory (OIJET), the head of the political section of the European Commission delegation, and two representatives of the Ivorian Civil Society Convention (CSCI).
