مهما طال الليل الكالح و مهما بدا المبتغى بعيد المنال,ادع الله القوي القهار! عائدون! اليوم تونس و غدا فلسطين

Nessma TV's volte-face and the failed "Dance and Shut-up!" media policy

Nessma, the private Tunisian TV channel, was quite a success story in the last few years. It was able to draw significant audiences from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria to watch its line-up.
For an outside observer, the media landscape in Tunisia seemed to be following a path of liberalization with the burgeoning of many private TV channels (Nessma, Hannibal) and FM radio stations (Mosaïque FM).


The previous resident of the Carthage Palace, who just got the boot from his people, saw it fit to pursue a policy of media pseudo-liberalization by allowing the existence of private media outlets whose sole mission was to overwhelm the audience with endless music shows, football matches, entertainment talk-shows and celebrity gossip.
It was apparent that the red line for Nessma and its peers was any meaningful debate on the issues that matter: namely any substantive discussion on-air about political issues, democracy, problems of economic governance and influence or the plight of the youth living in unemployment and under the poverty line.
Although Tunisia was on the forefront of this façade-liberalization that could be summarized under “Dance and Shut-up!”, it is by no means the only North-African country that followed this failed strategy.


When we tune in to the radio or TV next time, to enjoy our favorite sport, or music or talk show, let us all keep in mind to do so with an alert mind and to not let “controlled” entertainment distract us from the real issues affecting us, our people and our countries.


Or to borrow from Karl Marx’s famous analogy, let it not be our opium!