Conflicts of interest: the media caught red-handed
This Wednesday 7 April, on the programme “CQFD” on La Première (RTBF radio), we were treated to a genuinely open and transparent debate of the kind only our national broadcaster knows how to deliver. The hot topic of the moment was on the table: the decision taken by the interministerial conference to reserve the AstraZeneca vaccine for people over 56 (even though it had been judged not very effective and advised against for those over 65).
Martin Bilterijs opens hostilities with the question under debate: “AstraZeneca vaccine: stop or carry on? How can public confidence be maintained?”
Link to the programme:
https://www.rtbf.be
Note the second question, “How can public confidence be maintained?”, which rather well expresses the goal pursued by the authorities with the active help of the media, in disregard of objectivity and of the media’s mission as a counter-power.
The guests were Yvon ENGLERT, covid-19 delegate-general (also dubbed “Mr Vaccine”) for Wallonia, and Michel GOLDMAN, professor emeritus of immunology at the ULB.
However, what our Martin from La Première forgot to mention, and what took me 2 seconds to find, is that Michel GOLDMAN is also president of the Belgian AstraZeneca Foundation
Link to Michel GOLDMAN’s profile:
https://theconversation.com
Even though I would not presume to doubt the objectivity of this professor emeritus, would it not have been more honest and transparent on the part of the RTBF to mention his role in the AstraZeneca Foundation, all the more so when that brand’s vaccine is the subject of discussion?
I presume the answer lies in the debate’s question: “How can public confidence be maintained”.
But you will tell me that, fortunately, we have the competition across the road (RTL-TVI), which offers citizens the opportunity to obtain more complete and pluralistic information on important subjects. Not really, because who do we see on the set of the RTL-TVI news of 29 January 2020, on the subject of the European Medicines Agency’s approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine? Michel GOLDMAN… And of course, it was already pointless to mention his role in the AstraZeneca Foundation.
Link to the appearance on RTL-TVI:
https://www.rtl.be
If the media are still wondering “how to maintain public confidence”, I have the impression they have not yet found the right answer…
Marcan for BAM!
Photo source - See the videos:
https://www.rtbf.be
https://theconversation.com
https://www.rtl.be
Categories: Marc-Henri Wouters (in French)
