Media Ethics, Misinformation: Defaulting Practitioner Sanctioned

Obama Nana Dieudonné-Ernest, a journalist with the TV station “Bnews1,” has been suspended from practicing journalism in Cameroon for a period of one (1) month. The decision was made public on Thursday, May 8, 2025, by the National Communication Council (NCC) after its 46th ordinary session. Presiding at the session, which focused on the examination of eleven (11) regulatory cases, was the President of the Council, Joseph Chebonkeng Kalabubsu. After hours of deliberation, the Council took major decisions on six out of the eleven cases. The case initiated by the NCC against the TV station “Bnews1” for the broadcast of an unruly panelist making unfounded and insinuating remarks against the office of the President of the Republic came under deliberations. The panelist was speaking during the talk show dubbed “LE CLUB,” presented by Obama Nana Dieudonné-Ernest on “Bnews1” on 23 March 2025. The journalist was suspended for one month after the Council established the responsibility of the implicated media organ and the presenter of the programme for failing to adequately moderate the debate. The Council also deliberated on cases initiated by the Cameroon Renaissance Movement (CRM) and its National President, Professor Maurice Kamto, against several media organs. Print media organs: “The REPORTER” and “News Watch,” alongside their Publishers, were accused of publishing unfounded information suspecting the national president of the CRM of being associated with the violent attacks carried out in Belgium by the Brigade Anti Sardinard (B.A.S.) on certain authorities in February and March 2025. The Council dismissed the case, putting an end to the procedure launched by the CRM and its national president, Pro...