In light of the new procedures, Tunisians are concerned: Shall we return to the media during the era of Ben Ali?

TUNIS -

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Wednesday sacked the director general of state television, Mohamed Lassad Dahesh, after his administration prevented the deputy head of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate, Amira Mohamed, and a human rights activist, from entering the television building to participate in a talk show.

Al-Dahesh justified this ban on the fact that he was carrying out instructions from the army.

This was refuted by the Presidency of the Republic, after Tunisian journalists sparked widespread controversy, and demanded the need to preserve the gains of freedom of the press and media.

The incident of preventing the journalist and human rights defender from entering the TV building came amidst the fear of journalists and activists for the freedom of the press and media in Tunisia, which is one of the most important gains of the January 2011 revolution, especially after the recent attacks on journalists and foreign channels’ offices by security forces, following the exceptional measures decided by President Kais Saied last Sunday.

A Tunisian demonstrating in front of the parliament headquarters, whose work was suspended within the measures decided by President Said on Sunday (European)

Propaganda, not journalism

Tunisians had celebrated the liberation of the media and the press after the revolution, and the government media, which was known as the mouthpiece of the previous regime, turned into a public media that includes two official channels, 9 radio stations distributed throughout the country, the "Tunisia Africa News Agency", and the newspaper.

Despite the freedom that the public media enjoyed in Tunisia after the revolution, it lacked "correct management", as Sayeda Hammami, head of the Young Journalists Association, told Al Jazeera Net.

Hammami said that the official television should refrain from being loyal to one party at the expense of another, and to be at the level of the aspirations of the Tunisian citizen in conveying information.

Journalist Hammami denounced the failure of the National Channel to cover the events since its inception, saying, "The public television was not at the required level on July 25, 26 and 27, and did not cover what happened directly from the scene, especially on the morning of July 26, despite its capabilities and the efficiency of its staff." This means that the defect is management, or related to contradictions, or political pressures.

As for the journalist, "What is worse than the lack of coverage at the beginning, is that the channel turned from one extreme to the other, and proceeded to pass on the president's speech, and repeat it over and over again. This is a very dangerous matter, especially since the dialogues have been reduced, and the matter has reached the point of preventing guests from entering the television, amid the conversation about banning political dialogue.

Tunisian journalist and researcher Aisha Gharbi commented on naming a new political program on Tunisian state television, "Tunisia Beyond 25", as directed and biased, especially since it came only two days after the president's decisions, "as if he asserted that there was a big difference between Tunisia before July 25, Gharbi described this behavior as "closest to "propaganda" and not the press."

No going back

Journalists and pioneers of social networking sites criticized the lack of media coverage by public television, especially during President Said's decisions, as broadcasting was limited to reruns of old series and documentaries.

Tunisian journalist Zina El Bakri says that the citizen wants to follow the latest developments in the country from the national channel, "but unfortunately everyone was forced to follow the news from foreign channels."

"Suddenly, the president's activities, statements and orders became the top of the bulletins, and we did not see a political program that monitored all opinions, including those rejecting decisions. Nor did we see the major ruling parties present in the channel's programs."

Al-Bakri called for a quick review of state television's trends "so as not to go backwards," she said.

In the assessment of journalist Jihad Kalboussi, there are real and serious fears of returning to the square of restricting freedom of expression, which is "a gain that did not come by chance, but rather as a result of sacrifices for many years."

"We cannot forget that yesterday, very recently, the Presidency of the Republic referred Tunisian bloggers to the military judiciary, and one of them was imprisoned because of blogs he published last February, which some interpreted as Said's return to Ben Ali's practices," Kalboussi told Al Jazeera Net.

And "the ambiguity and indifference with which the Presidency of the Republic has dealt with the local media since 2019, does not bode well, despite calls to amend its media policy, and respect the Tunisian's right to information," according to journalist Kalboussi.