Wiesenthal Centre Reproach to France24: Le Monde Addresses Issue of Biased Reporting

March 21, 2023

The case of four Arabic-speaking journalists audited and sanctioned by France24 and its umbrella company France Média Monde, is provoking ripples throughout French media.

The newspaper of record, Le Monde, reported that, “The French international channel had been berated by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, alerted by a CAMERA investigation report...”
See: https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2023/03/15/france-24-sanctionne-une-journaliste-et-en-rappelle-a-l-ordre-trois-autres-pour-des-tweets-antisemites_6165617_3234.html

Le Monde continued, “France24 was the recipient... of an open letter [from Wiesenthal Centre’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels], in which ‘the international Jewish organization fighting for human rights’... said it was ‘shocked by the antisemitism shown by the correspondents of [the broadcaster's Arabic] channel’.”

The most outspoken journalist - who had glorified Hitler, calling for violence and genocide against Israel and the Jews - had been fired and sued. The other three have been warned and “the continuation of their collaboration with the channel will depend on their compliance” with an updated set of rules on unbiased and correct reporting. They are “expected to clearly adhere to it”... According to Samuels, this could mean "allowing three of the four to get away with it!"
 
Le Monde’s article raised also the question of “lack of management of correspondents”, especially freelancers of locally-outsorced companies, that were virtually untouchable.
 
“Unbiased reporting requires a global approach by the media business. Guaranteeing that each ring of the chain is accountable - from freelance correspondents to their outsourcing companies, from single channels to their networks - is a vast enterprise, but will be a blow to the purveyors of hate,” concluded Samuels.

For further information contact Dr. Shimon Samuels at csweurope@gmail.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).