–
–
The relentlessness of the French media against Mali does not date from today. It has its roots in the 1990s rebellion unleashed by the MPA whose terrorist actions against the Malian army were praised to demoralize and discourage the men at the front. The same false media campaign against the defense and security forces of Mali was amplified with the attack on the Kidal and Ménaka camps in 2006. The drug traffickers, at the origin of all sorts of atrocities against the people Malian and his army, are presented as heroes stopping at nothing to achieve their diabolical claim to divide Mali. With the crisis of 2012, the media hype reached its peak. The Malian army is presented as an army poorly equipped, poorly trained, undermined by corruption. It was the chorus of RFI and of France 24 in 2012. The sets of these two media were stormed from morning to night by enemies of our country who poured out hateful remarks against Malians. Also, we could hear in the reports, comments from these media that our army cannot resist the onslaught of men seasoned in combat in the theaters of operations in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Chad. And with the heavy weapons looted from the garrisons of Libya, there is no match between the terrorists of the MNLA and the Malian army. Hundreds of pick-ups lined up, surmounted by weapons that can reach their targets thousands of kilometers away, carrying heavily armed men dedicated to combat, the army will be forced to withdraw. These are words conveyed by RFI and France 24 in 2012 to undermine the morale of Malian troops. They sent shivers down the spine of any patriot who did not understand that these French media no longer dealt with information but had chosen another path, that of intoxication, misinformation, manipulation, hatred by taking fact and cause for the irredentists.
This is easily understandable insofar as some journalists from RFI and of France 24 are tied to certain communities in our country through sex, blood, drugs and internship. It turns out that some men in the French media are of (Malian) origin from this community, on the maternal side. Others have their mistress in this ethnic group and vise versa. It is these journalists from this union who are fundamentally against Mali, defend the separatist cause of their parents and the vital interests of France against the Malian people. If you understand this, the processing of information will never be in favor of our country. They say no word about the illicit traffic in drugs, weapons, cigarettes practiced by their proteges. But it is enough that one suspects a Black of this traffic, it is the scandal. In addition, internships are granted to their accomplices who serve as their relay in disinformation. This is the sad reality of the media hype of RFI and of France 24 against our country.
The suspension of these media by the Malian government, on March 16, throughout our territory will save us from false information, division, lies, untruths, manipulation of facts, bogus and propaganda. This decision is beneficial in more ways than one. It protects the higher interest of Mali against misinformation; the stability, the security of our country against the lies, division and hatred broadcast on RFI and France 24 in the name of an alleged freedom of the press, of expression which is condemned according to the client’s head. The Russians will not say otherwise.
‘‘To communicate is to exist’
In terms of communication, Mali has never existed It has never been the concern of our leaders. No budget is allocated to communication in ministries, institutions and embassies. It is unacceptable that a country in crisis like ours does not have any communication policy worthy of the name. Information and communication are muzzled in favor of the promotion of leaders who prefer to buy whole pages in the foreign press to be seen. It is time to quickly fill this vacuum by adopting a real national communication policy to respond to the false allegations against our country.
We cannot finish without taking the hat off to some of our colleagues who have given meaning to the position of communication officer through the quality of their productions. They are Moussa Bolly, Bréhima Touré, current director of AMAP, Alassane Diombélé (he was thus called before being named Assane Baba Diombélé, general manager of ORTM), Salif Sanogo.
If Mali wants to win the war against propaganda and disinformation, communication must be among the national priorities by calling on professionals to adopt a communication strategy. And taking it away from people appointed out of nepotism who don’t even know what it is.
Yoro SOW
