Reporters Without Borders attacked by PR firm working for far-right TV channel CNews owned by MultiChoice takeover owner Vivendi.

by AFP - Agence France Presse

Reporters Without Borders (also known in French as Reporters sans frontières or RSF) on Thursday accused a PR firm with links to French billionaire conservative Vincent Bollore of orchestrating a "vast disinformation campaign" against it.

The Paris-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), known for its work in defending press freedom around the world, said the PR firm, Progressif Media, had set up false websites made to look like that of RSF.

It also sent out messages on X, formerly known as Twitter, to discredit RSF, the NGO said.

The fake sites included content accusing RSF of trying to censor CNews, France's most popular news channel that is regularly accused of promoting far-right views. 

Progressif Media, RSF found, is part-owned by Bollore's telecoms conglomerate Vivendi, and is based on the same premises.

Vivendi also owns CNews and several other news organisations that are seen as shifting France's media landscape to the right in recent years.

Vivendi's Canal+ is busy with an aggressive takeover bid to buy MultiChoice in South Africa despite strict regulations barring foreign ownership of local media companies like MultiChoice, although it hasn't stopped Canal+ from gobbling up all available MultiChoice shares and making an official buyout bid approved by a special MultiChoice board.

Vivendi, which denies political bias in its news outlets, told AFP it had "no knowledge of possible illegal practices attributed to Progressif Media by RSF". 

However, a spokesperson confirmed Progressif Media had been deployed by a part of its media empire "to counter certain arguments about CNews". 

"We will see what happens next, what choices Vivendi will make now that the facts have been exposed publicly," said Arnaud Froger, head of RSF investigations. 

CNews launched in 2017 and is often compared to Fox News in the United States. According to RSF, the campaign came shortly after it made a formal complaint calling for stricter oversight of CNews.

Following RSF's complaint, media regulator Arcom was instructed in February to tighten control over TV and radio stations to ensure balanced political coverage. Bollore, known for having conservative views, has been gradually buying up many of the most important media companies in France, including film producers Canal+, Paris Match magazine and Europe 1 radio.

- Additional reporting by Thinus Ferreira

BREAKING. Egypt sentences Al Jazeera journalists to 3 years in prison for operating without a press licence and not being 'registered' journalists.

In a retrial, an Egyptian judge this morning in Cairo sentenced 3 journalists who worked for Al Jazeera (DStv 406 / StarSat 257) to 3 years in court because they were operating without a press licence and were not "registered" as journalists in Egypt.

Interestingly, the SABC's controversial and famously matricless chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng in South Africa is advocating for the same "rules" for media and journalists in South Africa, wanting journalists to be "regulated" and registered.

At the conclusion of the retrial this morning, journalists Mohamed Fahmy from Canada and Baher Mohamed from Egypt were immediately taken into custody.

Australian journalist Peter Greste who was released and deported at the beginning of February this year, was convicted and sentenced by judge Hassan Farid in absentia in the farcical trial.

In the harsh judgment, judge Hassan Farid said that Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste were not journalists because they were operating without a press licence and were never "registered" to practice journalism or to be journalists in Egypt.

Both were sentenced to more time in prison because judge Hassan Farid said they were not journalists.

Al Jazeera said the TV news channel is "sickened" by the "disgusting" conviction of its journalists.

Giles Trendle, Al Jazeera's acting managing director for Al Jazeera English appeared on the channel on Saturday morning, saying he is "shocked, sickened, appalled at today's verdict".

"They were arrested on false charges, they've been convicted without a shred of evidence, they were imprisoned for over a year. And now they're going back to prison. It's disgraceful, it's disgusting. We are shocked," said Giles Trendle.

"The safety and well-being of our staff is of paramount importance," said Giles Trendle.

"The judge said one of the reasons they were there [in prison] is because they were not members of the Egyptian journalists' syndicate. Well, obviously foreign journalists ... the syndicate is for Egyptian journalists," said Giles Trendle.

The three journalists were arrested in December 2013 after a raid on the Marriott Hotel in Cairo and sentenced to seven to 10 years in prison in 2014. International pressure forced a retrial.

This is the second trial in Egypt in the two trials that both had several postponements. The journalists will continue with yet another retrial - the last one allowed.

"Today's verdict defies logic and common sense," says dr. Mostefa Souag, Al Jazeera's acting director-general in a statement issued on Saturday.

"Al Jazeera will continue to call for their freedom and an end to the ordeal for Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy and the six Al Jazeera staff who were sentenced in absentia."

"The support shown for Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy has been loud and unified and has come from every corner of the world, from world leaders, journalists, human rights organisations and the general public."

"Al Jazeera calls on everyone to continue to fight for the freedom of speech, for the right of people to be informed and for the right of journalists around the world to be able to do their job," says dr. Mostefa Souag.

"We will not rest until Baher Mohamed, Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy and the six Al Jazeera staff sentenced in absentia are freed and formally and definitely acquitted from the trumped up charges against them."

Mohamed Fahmy has since distances himself from Al Jazeera and blasted the Qatar based 24-hour TV news channel, and accusing Al Jazeera of blatantly placing his life and the lives of his colleagues in grave danger, lying about Al Jazeera's lega status in Egypt.

Mohamed Fahmy who is also suing Al Jazeera for damages in a Candian court, also slammed Al Jazeera for displaying editorial bias in favour of Islamists.

Reporters Without Borders says it "reiterates its call for the acquittal of Mohamed Fahmy, Baher Mohamed and Peter Greste".

"We urge the Egyptian authorities to terminate the trial by dismissing all charges against the journalists. This judicial sham must end with everyone being acquitted," says Christopher Deloire, secretary-general of  Reporters Without Borders.

With at least 15 journalists detained in connection with their work, Egypt is the world's fourth biggest prison for media personnel (after China, Eritrea and Iran) and is ranked 158th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index.