European Union: support to Tunisian TV in its editorial

"We expressed, during our meeting on Tuesday with Caretaker Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi, the unwavering support of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and its members to the Tunisian public media in this new era," EBU Chairman Jean Paul Philippot said, during a news conference held on Tuesday in Tunis, with attendance of Tunisian TV CEO Mokhtar Rassaa and the EBU delegation members. He pointed out that this support has started just after the Revolution by the Union's organisation of specialised training sessions at all levels. "Protecting the values of democracy, plurality and diversity is for us a real battle. Public radios and televisions are created by decrees and financed by the people's solidarity. They should in return respect the principles of transparency and clarify their positions to the public. The private radios and televisions are the guarantors of diversity which constitutes the basis of plurality," he specified. "The presence in Tunisia of this important delegation led by Mr. Jean-Paul Philippot, is part of a co-operation and an exchange programme between this association and the Tunisian Television Establishment which is aimed to support the latter in its transition from a State television to a public one," Mr. Mokhtar Rassaa pointed out. "This co-operation has started last April with a training programme for journalists, communicators, technicians and an artistic staff, and is due to last till the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) elections," he added, specifying that the basic objective of this co-operation is to help the Tunisian television ensure the coverage of the NCA elections, in compliance with standards in force in European democratic countries. The EBU includes 85 national media bodies from 56 European countries and others. It is an association which endeavours to entrench public media values and specificities in Europe and across the world. The EBU will provide technical support, broadcasting capacities and professional expertise services to the Tunisian television worth 200,000 euros (about 400,000 Tunisian Dinars), part of which under the form of a loan, according to a press release by the Union distributed to journalists.