New French external media chief Saragosse outlines priorities

Marie-Christine Saragosse, who has been confirmed as the new president of France’s external media arm the AEF, has presented her plans for the organisation to media regulator the CSA.

Saragosse, currently director of French international channel TV5Monde, told the CSA she wanted to extend the reach of radio service RFI and noted that the service had a stronger presence in French-speaking Africa than the BBC did in English-speaking Africa. She said that TV channel France 24 did not yet have the reach that it should and that Arab-language radio service Monte Carlo Douhalya had no presence in the Maghreb, which had to be addressed.

As expected, the editorial leadership of RFI and France 24 will remain separate under Saragosse’s leadership, a reversal of previous president Alain de Pouzilhac’s plan to merge the two.