The work of the 2nd International Journalism Conference in Tunis started on Thursday at the City of Culture in Tunis and will continue until March 19. Some 700 journalists from 30 Arab, European and African countries took part.
At the opening ceremony, Francesco Akusa, deputy head of the European Union delegation in Tunis, said that the Tunis conference is held in a context of a pandemic in full swing and a war between Ukraine and Russia that is raging; two major events that complicate the situation and make the global landscape more complicated than ever.
Faced with these major challenges, the European leader added, today’s societies have become weary and hope to rise again through a media landscape where freedom of expression and media independence are paramount.
In this context, he stressed the importance of providing citizens with reliable and credible information, as it is one of the essential pillars of the democratic system.
“There is no tomorrow without free and honest media, especially in a context where journalists are targeted and freedom of expression is threatened,” he said.
He also said that any attack on the credibility of the media, freedom of opinion and the rights of journalists is an affront to the essence and quintessence of journalistic work, calling on media professionals to resolutely defend freedom of expression and to transmit the truth, nothing but the truth, in the face of the rise of social media and the viral spread of misinformation on the web.
For his part, Jérôme Bouvier, Director of the Journalism and Citizenship Association, stressed the importance of the role of the press in any democracy, saying that “there can be no future for the press without the freedom of expression: “There can be no common future without a free press and without information far from the hegemony of power.
Taking the floor, Vice-president of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, Amira Mohamed, gave an overview of the situation of journalism in Tunisia in recent years.
In this context, she criticised the Chahed government, which, she accused, has tirelessly tried to “muzzle” the media sector and has tried to buy the conscience of some journalists.
“It is without doubt a predatory government of the media and journalists,” she said.
The proof is that “it has refrained from publishing the framework agreement for journalists in the official gazette even though it is a key text for the future of the profession in Tunisia,” she added.
She also criticised the practices of the Mechichi government, which she said tried to domesticate journalists, recalling in this regard “the great battle” led by journalists to defend the decree-law n°116.
She also criticised President Kais Saied, who, she said, pursues a “virtual communication strategy” that excludes the journalist and the media and is content to appeal to publications via the official Facebook page, thus reducing the journalist to a mere receiver of messages.
The same applies to Prime Minister Najla Bouden, she added, who has not held any press conference so far. Moreover, she has hastened to publish Circular No. 19, which aims to undermine the right of access to information and Decree-Law No. 20 targeting trade union action.
The 2nd International Journalism Conference will include more than 150 activities, including panel discussions on journalism in the face of health emergencies, journalism as an actor in the democratic emergency, the urgent need for investigative journalism, professional ethics and self-organisation.
Workshops will also be organised on the introduction to podcasts, the state of the art, the presentation of the perspectives of environmental journalism in the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the exchange of experiences on community radios and the protection of women journalists during crisis coverage.
Source: Tap News Agency