by Thinus Ferreira
In the latest edition of Al Jazeera's The Listening Post, the weekly media review show looks at and explains how France's far-right billionaire and corporate raider Vincent Bolloré from Vivendi is moving to gobble up Africa's MultiChoice in South Africa through his aggressive Canal+ corporate takeover.
The Listening Post report how the so-called "Bolloré system works": Vincent Bolloré first acquires a small stake in an organisation - like what Canal+ started doing with MultiChoice - slowly builds up his shareholding in an organisation, stages a hostile takeover, then fires a bunch of staffers and the pivot the organisation to the right, politically.
Should Canal+ and Vincent Bolloré's aggressive buyout of MultiChoice go through, "it would grant a monopoly to one man with the power to determine what kind of content gets broadcast across an entire continent" The Listening Post reports.
The report details how Vincent Bolloré and Canal+ have censored the news and news reporting that wasn't favourable for Vivendi and Canal+.
Staffers also got fired to create the far-right editorial newsroom environment that Bolloré wants, Canal+ did marketing disguised as news reporting to curry favour with African governments, and Bolloré even removed TV channels critical of government from Canal+'s line-up to appease governments in Africa to get government contracts.
Vincent Bolloré pleaded guilty to corruption charges in France related to election interference in both Togo and Guinea. Now he's trying to buy MultiChoice in a hostile takeover.
