On September 11, 2024, on the airwaves of Equinoxe TV , the CEO of the La Nouvelle Expression group commented on the current cold wind blowing between his television channel and the National Communiction Council (NCC). As a guest on the 8 PM news of his media group’s television channel, Séverin Tchounkeu addressed the storm that has been hitting the ‘People’s Channel’ for the past few weeks. ‘Equinoxe is not at war with the NCC’, he declared emphatically.
While the head of the NCC has been touring national private television channels for some time, his visit on September 5, 2024, to Séverin Tchounkeu’s channel was cut short due to a misunderstanding.
Indeed, Joe Chebonkeng and his entourage left the premises immediately when, in his welcome speech, Serge Alain Atou, the channel’s spokesperson, stated that ‘we are in mourning.’ The editor-in-chief of Equinoxe TV, whose employees were all dressed in black and one, Pierre Laverdure Ombang, had his mouth taped with a red ribbon in protest, listed a series of actions taken by the NCC against Equinoxe TV. He concluded with an accusation of ‘harassment’ by the NCC against a channel that ‘is just doing its job’, and that moreover ‘applies sanctions even before notifications’.
To leave no one in doubt, Séverin Tchounkeu stepped up to condemn what he considers a ‘betrayal.’
The founder of the La Nouvelle Expression group denounced ‘the manipulation of the mediator by people lurking in the shadows for other purposes.’ Equinoxe is regularly ranked by various institutions as the most-watched television channel. However, several times its flagship programs, notably Droit de réponses, have been suspended, along with their hosts.
Nevertheless, ‘it has never been a question for the staff and top management of Equinoxe to disrespect the NCC’, he reassured. For the rest, he called for ‘all ethical and professional standards of our profession to be respected and for this institution to be independent’.
