By: Dawda Baldeh
The Minister of Information, Dr. Ismaila Ceesay, has denied widespread speculation that the Senegalese State Television (RTS) is being paid to provide media coverage for the 15th Summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, slated for May 4th and 5th in Banjul.
The Ministry’s response came shortly after the arrival of the Senegalese motorcade with RTS branding, which drove along the busy Bertil Harding Highway to the conference center in Bijilo.
Speaking to journalists at a press conference yesterday, the country’s Information Minister said the speculations are false and misleading.
During the conference, the press was updated on the progress of ongoing developmental projects and the country’s readiness to host the summit.
“GRTS, the government, or the OIC Secretariat is not paying one cent to RTS for technical support,” he said.
Dr. Ceesay added that the summit is a global event that requires global partnerships for its success.
“The BBC, Al Jazeera, or any other international or local media covering the summit will receive feeds from GRTS,” Dr. Ceesay clarified.
He also mentioned that other local media outlets like QTV, Eye Africa, and Paradise are all involved to ensure proper coverage of the summit.
According to him, RTS is providing technical support, and GRTS is taking the lead as they have a memorandum of understanding.
Ebrima Sillah, Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, also responded to the speculations and provided detailed explanations of the situation.
“It is completely normal for host national media houses to collaborate with larger, experienced, and well-resourced international or national media houses to cover events of such magnitude.
For example, in 2014 when Senegal covered the Francophonie, it was the studio tech of Dakar that provided technical support,” he told journalists.
“During the 2023 AFCON in Ivory Coast, the National broadcaster was backed by the studio tech of Belgium, which provided OB vans, 16 cameras, and motion cameras,” he added.
He further cited examples from Cameroon during the AFCON, Niger, and Mali during the Francophonie.
Sillah attributed the spread of such misinformation to people’s lack of understanding of how international media operate.
“Regarding the conference, all media houses will receive information from GRTS.
This is a common practice; for instance, during American President Biden’s speeches, you only see one microphone, but technical support is provided elsewhere for everyone to access the feed,” he concluded.
