Senegal's public broadcasting service is lagging behind the media world. And the Council of Ministers' press release is the perfect illustration of this. Last Wednesday, it took Adama Anouchka Ba 8 minutes just to read the individual measures contained in this document summarizing the weekly meeting between the President of the Republic and the government. And at the end of this reading, presenter Mariama Dramé added: "Our apologies, this evening there will be no traditional video like every Wednesday."

From Senghor's presidency to the present day, it's always been the same ritual every Wednesday. The newspaper opens with a sometimes overly long reading of the Council of Ministers' communiqué. And one wonders what the point is. In the era of media plurality (not necessarily pluralism), the internet, and social networks, it's obvious that there's almost no point in wasting several minutes reading this communiqué. What's stopping RTS from taking the gist of this document as the private media do? Unfortunately, neither RTS nor the government seem convinced of this necessity, since the communiqué, which, in principle, should have been available well before the day, is jealously guarded until 8 p.m., simply to give exclusivity to public television. Practices from another age!

"Time is an extremely rare commodity on television," said Pierre Bourdieu. This is why a minute of advertising costs a lot of money. But on RTS, they often seem to be saying the opposite, especially during the 8 p.m. news. Excessively long clips are broadcast, sometimes without any informative value. This is the case during the head of state's trips within the country. Standing in his convertible car, he bathes in the crowd. And it has become a ritual. It also happens during certain events broadcast live. The presidential convoy is filmed from its departure point at the palace until its arrival at its destination. This wastes precious minutes broadcasting sequences that provide no information to viewers.

Perhaps it's time for RTS to take a retrospective look and reflect on its mission in the current context of the media's transformation. This would allow it to improve its content and free itself from certain constraints it has imposed on itself. This will undoubtedly be an opportunity for RTS to understand that public broadcasting isn't just about showing the head of state, his prime minister, and his ministers.

A former RTS journalist recounts that on February 7, 1986, the editorial staff learned of the death of Professor Cheikh Anta Diop. That same day, President Abdou Diouf was returning from a trip. At an editorial meeting, the debate arose over whether to open the newspaper with the death of the eminent scientist or simply with the return of the head of state from his trip. Finally, the compromise reached was to gather Diouf's reaction to broadcast both pieces of information simultaneously. And the formula that was found was to say: having returned from his trip, the President of the Republic learned of the death of Professor Cheikh Anta Diop, here is his reaction upon getting off the plane.

This anecdote alone sums up RTS's conception of public broadcasting. There is overexposure of the head of state to the detriment of issues important to the running of the country. This means that almost all events chaired by the head of state are broadcast live. However, the RTS YouTube channel is more than sufficient, or we should look for another frequency (or channel with DTT) to broadcast this type of activity live. It is therefore high time to rethink public broadcasting, and the role of RTS in particular.