Corona-affected sectors that denounced its exclusion ... What is behind the government support for the media in Tunisia?

Amal al-Hilali - Tunisia

Exceptional government decisions supporting the Tunisian private media sector to confront the Corona pandemic, sparked a wave of controversy between supporters of the decision and those who considered it an attempt to gain the loyalty of these institutions, at the expense of other vital sectors more affected by the crisis.

Prime Minister Elias Al-Fakhfakh confirmed during a cabinet, his keenness to accompany media institutions to overcome the repercussions of Corona, through a series of decisions along the lines of the state guaranteeing 50% of broadcasting information for the year 2020 for all broadcasts and private channels, and subscribing to electronic copies of newspapers by the state.

The decisions included the establishment of a fund worth five million dinars (about $ 1.5 million) to support the efforts of the state in the awareness campaigns, as well as allocating a credit of the same value to finance the sector rehabilitation program and support it in engaging in the digital transformation system.

Domestication of the media
The Press Syndicate rushed in an official statement to express its "shock" of government decisions for the benefit of the media sector, declaring its rejection of what it described as the "servitude policy for food that the government wants to devote in the sector."

The union questioned the background to this decision, expressing its fear of trying to domesticate the media sector with the aim of polishing the image of the government and its president, and exploiting the fragile social situation of journalists.

In the same context, she emphasized the formation of a legal committee to study the possibility of suing the prime minister against the background of a suspicion of employing the taxpayers ’money, with the aim of political propaganda.

In turn, opposition political parties expressed their condemnation of the government’s decisions in favor of the private media sector, and some went to formally prosecute the prime minister before the administrative court along the lines of the “Dignity Coalition” party, according to what his MP in the parliament, Abdul Latif Al Alawi, confirmed.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, Al-Alawi expressed his surprise at the Prime Minister taking advantage of the mandate granted to him by Parliament to enact "unjust and unfair" laws that serve capital and owners of private media institutions, at the expense of vulnerable groups most affected by the Corona pandemic.

The MP considered that private channels and radio stations are mostly profit institutions throughout the year and still benefit from advertising revenues even during the Corona crisis, in contrast to other vital sectors more fragile, such as tourism and small professions.

Al-Alawi did not rule out the attempt to trap - by announcing these measures - buying the receivables of media institutions, and forming a media lobby around him to whitewash his image politically at the expense of people's money and donations.

The government presidency responds and
in its response to the suspicion campaign that chased the decisions of the prime minister to support private media institutions, the minister and the official spokesperson of the government, Asma al-Suhairi, confirmed that the announced measures came at the request of the sector owners to save the media institutions and their workers.

In her talk to Al Jazeera Net, the minister rejected the accusations directed against the prime minister of adopting the principle of selectivity in supporting a professional sector at the expense of another, stressing that the media sector is among three economic sectors that have enjoyed these special measures, namely tourism and small professions.

The government spokeswoman asserted that the procedures for supporting private media institutions will be conditional on the extent of their owners' commitment to the applicable legal legal arrangements in relation to journalists and their employment contracts, and in relation to the legal status of the activity of these institutions.

She pointed out that the announced decisions are subject to amendment in light of the government’s consultation sessions with the people of the sector and those involved in it, within the framework of the committee that will monitor the extent of the application of these measures.

The Minister categorically rejected the accusations directed against the Prime Minister of trying to buy or rid the owners of media institutions, stressing that the role of the state requires its intervention in such crises to guarantee a constitutional right, which is the right to information and the delivery of information to the citizen.

For its part, the National Union for Private Television Channels announced in an official statement the governmental measures taken to support the private media sector, pointing out that private television channels have been living in a severe financial crisis for years, compounded by the Corona pandemic.

It is noteworthy that the media sector in Tunisia, like other economic sectors, was not spared the repercussions of the Corona crisis, as the owners of the private written media institutions had previously launched an appeal to the government to save the sector.