Abidjan Journalists were invited Thursday, November 17, 2022, in Abidjan, to the unit against external aggressions, during the 13th session of the exchange workshop of the National Press Authority (ANP ), called “ANP Academy”, organized at the Polytechnic Institute of Sciences and Techniques and Techniques of Communication (ISTC).

During this session, three panelists, César Etou, André Sylver Konan, Nanourougo Coulibaly spoke to the audience on the theme of “External aggression, patriotism and State security: What should be the social responsibility of the journalist in the treatment of information?”.

Journalist César Etou said that in the period from 1990 to 2001, journalists united in the face of external aggression. But today this patriotism has faded due to “politico-economic aggression”. He therefore proposed the unity of journalists against the initiators of the conquest of state power by violence.

André Sylver Konan, promoter of the newspaper Ivoir’Hebdo, for his part assured that “Coherence allows journalists to determine the truth”. For him, “Patriotism is not blindly following official positions”.

As for the teacher-researcher, Nanourougo Coulibaly, he proposed a hierarchical approach to values in the work of the journalist, namely the values of the nation and those of the Republic and of defence.

For him, the journalist must take precedence over these values in a context of threat to the rule of law.

“Defending the interests of the community are necessarily above personal interests. Better still, if the rule of law is threatened, freedoms will not exist, hence the hierarchical approach to values,” he said.

This panel was moderated by the former prefect of Abidjan, Vincent Toh-Bi Irié, in the presence of the president of the ANP, Samba Koné.

Source: Agence Ivoirienne De Presse