Keeping up with the news in Mauritius

Hi Priscilla.

Good subject.

I buy hard copies of Le Defi and L'Express every day and also read them online in translation, though L'Express is now more difficult to access as they have introduced a charge for their online access.
I also buy the weekly English Newspaper, watch the 7.30pm and 9pm news and buy the English Weekly news magazine.

For international news I read a lot of the British and US newspapers online and also access the BBC and CNN online as well as  the BBC World Service.

So able to keep up to date with all the news.

I don't really watch much TV here other than the news - not really into soap operas and the like.

Hi Priscilla,

This is an interesting topic and it's a very good way to know the effectiveness of the news media and the disposition of people regarding local and international affairs.

I buy the weekly "News on Sunday" at times and then watch T.V. stations like B.B.C. Focus on Africa @9:30 p.m.,  C.N.N., D.W. Germany, France 24, AlJazeera, CNBC Africa and the Mauritius MBC 3 English News@ 9 p.m. I also check out online channels like Vanguard News Nigeria, blogs, Tanzania, Zambia,Uganda,Kenya,London's THE MAIL and Asian Online news agancies.

I do enjoy the smart and frequent use of English on Mauritius online radio TOP FM. There is a woman who makes my day on the MBC 3 @9 p.m. English news and then the only man that usually casts the news makes life boring because he speaks English as if he is speaking another language which makes it difficult to folllow his news reading nor understand his wordings. Apart from the mother tongue accent which most people have worldwide which is no big issue, this man calls every word with a wrong pronunciation and unnecessary drag,  then he whispers some words as if they were taboo. Listening to him confuses and gives one headache.

The Mbc 3 channel news is so focused on foreign news and the only local news is mostly to show proceedings of the Mauritian Parliament or government businesses and events. It makes one to wonder if the island has no life of its own to inform us on apart from government functions, i have come to know almost every minister on the island because of repeatedly showing them daily, minister this, minister that did this and said that, commissioned this and promised that, its like an election campaign period for an imminent election lol.

If you dont have Mauritius friends from the cardinal points of the country, then, you are virtually in the dark concernong happenings, especially when you don't speak kreol and French.

This is the information age, as much as the international news is important, the local news is more important, charity they say begins at home.

I get more news online than any other channel. The internet has made supply of news to become surplus and customizable. However, none will take the directness and convincing effect of the video and audio in the traditional media like T.V. and Radio unlike the online platforms where there are always doubts about the authenticity , even online videos are susceptible to manipulations of "photoshop" and the content providers are mostly unknown and not sanctioned by any authhority.

Remey. I'm just watching the  MBCEnglish News at 9pm and find the female presenter tonight as bad as the guy you were talking about.
We must remember that English is their second language but it is irritating and I find my attention starts to wander after a while.
Also agree that it concentrates far too much on politics and politicians and not much proper news.

Daisymay2, i think the issue has a lot to do with nepotism because there are many more suitable Mauritians who speak impeccable English but they don't belong to the right clique maybe,lol. We will continue to take the whatever they speak in the name of English news. Nothing could be done.If they are interested to know how the audience feel about the program they will conduct a market research, but it seems the focus is on just having the "English News slot" , not satisfying the listeners.

Exactly Remey!
Nepotism wins over meritocracy here.

Hello Remey, your post is very interesting and funny as well. I'll try to listen to these two people on MBC3 especially the second one. It seems weird.

You are quite right about not belonging to the right clique.

They make your day at times and make you miserable at other times. lol

I prefer not watching any TV news and instead browse the local newspapers' website. The news itself places too much focus on politics and after a while it gets irritating.   ****