November 21 marks World Television Day. This date, dedicated to the celebration of the small screen, was proclaimed in 1996 after the first World Television Forum by the United Nations General Assembly. Originally, it aimed to promote this media as the main vector for world exchanges of programs around peace, security and development. Today, this day symbolizes the recognition of the power of influence of television.
TV, in the heart of West African homes.
In West Africa, the Africascope is the reference study dealing with the level of consumption of the media by the populations. It is carried out annually by the British cabinet Kantar with a sample of 15,300 people distributed in eight countries: Senegal, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso and the Republic of Congo.
According to his latest figures, in 2022, 89.9% of West Africans watched television daily. This represents 18.6 million viewers, for an average viewing duration of 4:22. In 2021, on the other hand, the " Watch Time" amounted on average at 4:10 am.
Unlike the global trend, in West Africa, the small screen is not loss of audience. Television stands out as the preferred means of information of populations. She places herself in front of the radio, however very popular in the regions concerned and escapes the development of social networks. Information programs are the majority of emissions consumed by the audience.
Small screen, large manipulation weapon?
Occupating a decisive role in access to information for millions of viewers, the small screen is the voice of public service, like that of the independent press. It is the ideal tool for the dissemination of fake-news and propaganda thanks to its masses gathering capacity.
In some West African countries, press freedom is not always guaranteed and the political-security context is sometimes won by instability. This situation further underlines the need to measure the potential for influence of such a media.
Certainly, it is human to give credit to information relayed by journalists on television. This justifies, at least in part, the wish of the United Nations Assembly to proclaim a World Television Day: “We live in a society that depends on information and communication technologies for its daily activities (…). What we see and perceive through the prism of television influences and shapes our lifestyles. Television educates, informs, entertains, educated, and weighs on our decisions in many ways ”.
In order to ensure the intellectual freedom of populations, media and information education must be a priority. The formation of an informed critical spirit constitutes a weapon in the fight against manipulation of information.
