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Well, "terrorism" is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? But sure, they regularly interview rebels of all stripes, except Islamist insurgents I think (at lea

by rtsil 6y ago

Well, "terrorism" is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? But sure, they regularly interview rebels of all stripes, except Islamist insurgents I think (at least I can't think of one such interview). > they still basically exist as a propaganda station. They're only going to broadcast something like this if they want the world to hear it for some reason. That's a point of view. I've seen them accused of being at the same time pro-regime and pro-opposition/rebels, inside the same countries, all across Africa, regardless of which group France is supporting. So who knows? I've even heard once the officials from an opposition party in an African country during a period of unrest, protesting against the then-current RFI correspondant covering the country and asking for his replacement by another RFI reporter, supposedly more neutral. So, again, it's in the eye of the beholder. Also, being a public radio doesn't necessarily mean they're subservient. We have a national station here which is quite leftist, France Inter. Whenever the government is right-wing (or center-right), it will criticize the government's politics quite severely. Maybe being a civil servant with a lifetime job guarantee helps being less subservient? Or maybe I'm just hopelessly naive.

boomboomsubban 6y ago
Come up with one reason that France would fund RFI that isn't essentially propaganda. It's the kind of bias that exists outside the internal political debate, which makes it far better than the alternative commercial stations, but the stated goal is to spread the French POV worldwide. Again, I realize I'm terribly cynical on these issues. We can both have the same information about the network and my distrust will just lead me to this conclusion.
- rtsil 6y ago
  Oh, France absolutely funds it for propaganda reasons, and that was one of the stated reasons of forcing RFI to joint the new, state-backed international Radio-TV group a couple of years ago. That's not even some hidden, secret motivation. It was stated publicly. I'm just saying that the dog doesn't always (emphasis on "always") go where the masters want it to go, particularly when the masters come and go at the whim of the voters but the dog is always there.

by rtsil 6y ago

boomboomsubban 6y ago

Come up with one reason that France would fund RFI that isn't essentially propaganda. It's the kind of bias that exists outside the internal political debate, which makes it far better than the alternative commercial stations, but the stated goal is to spread the French POV worldwide. Again, I realize I'm terribly cynical on these issues. We can both have the same information about the network and my distrust will just lead me to this conclusion.

rtsil 6y ago
Oh, France absolutely funds it for propaganda reasons, and that was one of the stated reasons of forcing RFI to joint the new, state-backed international Radio-TV group a couple of years ago. That's not even some hidden, secret motivation. It was stated publicly. I'm just saying that the dog doesn't always (emphasis on "always") go where the masters want it to go, particularly when the masters come and go at the whim of the voters but the dog is always there.