French and Italian Culture and Communication Ministers discuss racism

IFACCA/Artshub, 31 January 2005
France

The French Minister of Culture and Communication recently met with Maurizio Gasparri, his Italian counterpart, to discuss issues of racism within broadcast media. The ministers met on the 18th of January to highlight the need for a European debate about racial vilification and calls for violence in the media. Specifically mentioned was Al Manar, the television network closely associated with the Islamic group Hezbollah, frequently charged with inciting racial hatred, violence and anti-semitic views. Al Manar is available from satellite broadcast to most of Europe, and is alleged to be wholly owned by militant group Hezbollah. Late last year the Council of Jewish Organizations in France had petitioned the French government, stating that the station was both terrorist and anti-semitic. French Prime minister, Jacque Chirac has already issued a statement agreeing with those charges and the Conseil d’Etat, the supreme administrative tribunal of France, has banned al-Manar from French satellite channels, through which had attracted a significant audience. As yet, there has been no unified response to the network across Europe, with some countries freely allowing it, and others following the French example. The Ministers discussed Al Manar and also the problem of extremist television in general, and how to react to that on a European scale. The availability of such television is related to the growing boom in digital television, a priority of Italian audio-visual policy. As a result, the ministers also discussed issues surrounding digital television, and the ownership laws that are currently standardised across Europe in response to it. For more information (in French), please CLICK HERE.

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