SECTOR 3 3.10 The state/public broadcaster offers balanced and fair information in news and current affairs, reflecting the full spectrum of diverse views and opinions. The panel clearly disagrees on this matter. Some feel that in the last few years the RTI has constantly been used for the benefit of the socio-politial status quo and that this habit has not changed. A panellist underlined that opinions between the State and citizen are far from being “equitably represented”. He adds that during each conflict the version the State put forward has always been favoured and that since the arrival of the new government the variety of points of view on the RTI have not fundamentally increased. Other panellists, however, challenge this assessment: for them, this description applies to a different time and they assure that a progressive transformation towards a more effective representation of all different social categories is underway. They mention for instance Voxpops, popularising the voices in the street. Furthermore the broadcasting of extreme scenes such as the arrest of an advocate by DST (Ivorian security police) during a demonstration would not have featured as part of the state broadcaster’s programming before. The majority of the panel nonetheless reckons that even if RTI has considerably ‘loosened their grip’ of late, the channel still has not reached the level of a public service and maintains the image of a state television. The gradual shift seems more likely to be in response to the impending privatisation which, it is true, will create new competition for the channel. Scores: Individual scores: 1 Country does not meet indicator 2 Country meets only a few aspects of indicator 3 Country meets some aspects of indicator 4 Country meets most aspects of indicator 5 Country meets all aspects of the indicator Average score: 2.4 (2009: 1.9) AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER COTE D’IVOIRE 2012 101