On September 22nd the new head of the Tunisian government, Chahed Youssef, appointed journalist and producer Elyes Gharbi to run the Etablissement de la Télévision Tunisienne (ETT).
Two days earlier Tunisia’s broadcasting watch-dog, the Haute Autorité Indépendante de la Communication Audiovisuelle (HAICA), whose consultation is mandatory before the head of public broadcasting can be appointed, had interviewed Gharbi and given a favourable opinion of the nomination, saying in a statement that the candidate’s “qualities of neutrality, integrity, independence and competence” met its expectations.
At 44, the new head of Tunisian Television is a well-known figure in Tunisian media. In particular he is known as the principal news reader for the private channel Nessma. Before that he hosted a chat-show, “Hadith Essaa”, on the public channel Wataniya 1 and worked with El Hiwar El Tounsi, a TV channel, and radio stations Mosaic, Express FM and Shems FM.
Elyes Gharbi succeeds Rached Younes who was appointed interim CEO in November 2015. He has promised he will “work to ensure that quality and professionalism are the trademarks of programmes aired on Wataniya 1 and 2.”
Sources: www.mediterranee-audiovisuelle.com
