Under President Ben Ali the Tunisian media was used as a propaganda tool to promote the regime’s achievements and ferociously attack its detractors. Along with civil society activists, human rights defenders and critical opposition voices, independent journalists and editors were forced out of the mainstream spotlight, spending over 20 years dodging the dictator’s ire. Publications were systematically closed, journalists regularly imprisoned, and the public interest became inseparable from that of the regime.

While the euphoria of revolution lingers, the reality now emerging is of a society in desperate need of organisation. “There is a ‘before’ and an ‘after’ Ben Ali,” explains Lotfi Hajji, a prominent Tunisian correspondent for Al Jazeera and former head of the Tunisian Journalists Syndicate (SJT). “International organisations like the TMG played an important role in bringing us to the current situation, but we are still very much in a transition period. We have huge freedoms, but there are huge dangers too. Those who promoted Ben Ali are now promoting free speech.”

The most important role for international organisations in the wake of the revolution is to help build institutions that can strengthen free speech. “We need to educate and install guarantees for the long term,” adds Mr Hajji. “There is a clear call to help independent publishers and provide training in business management, finances and ethical practices. All of this will encourage good journalists to return to the profession.”

Professor Larbi Chouikha from the Press and Information Sciences Institute in Tunis (IPSI) agrees, but is cautious about the way the process is shaping up. “The key questions are how to ensure that the media is effective during the transition, how it will adapt, and how it will fulfill its role. Over the past few weeks it has been evident that it has not done so.”

All journalists in Tunisia were trained under the regime and one of the pressing objectives is to get them out of this mindset. “Government journalists find it difficult to make the distinction between working for the government and working for a public media – to serve the public interest and not the government,” continues Professor Chouikha. “Academics have an important role to play in creating a culture of public service and ensuring professionalism, which is absolutely critical given the context of the forthcoming elections.”

Mindful of the potential dangers posed by this vacuum of power, in which the media has swung from being under the regime’s total control to a state of unprecedented liberty in a matter of days, Neji Bghouri, President of the National Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists, has been quick to meet with the Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to demand solid gestures for the press. “Back in 1987-1988 there was a certain opening up of society when Ben Ali first came to power, but he quickly to reversed everything. There is a real risk of this happening again as the press is very fragile.”

The solution being mooted from across the media and freedom of expression spectrum is for an independent commission to meet to formulate a national strategy for the media. “Ideally, a group of stakeholders with legitimate voices will eventually meet under a more conducive environment to draft a national plan of action for the media,” confirms Professor Chouikha.

“We need to completely revamp the media scene and create a sound institutional framework,” affirms Mokhtar Trifi, President of the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH), an organisation with an important role to play in any potential discussions. “Since independence, Tunisia has relied on a very classic system of information. We need to completely revise this and open up the media scene to greater pluralism. The critical role of youth using social media has been essential in showing us this.”

Indeed, during the demonstrations many people supplied footage to the media via social networks, to the point where the Syndicate is now considering calls from bloggers and social media journalists to become members. “People in the street believed Al Jazeera would bring their news to the world and at the same time protect them from repression,” adds Al Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji.

“The whole process of revolution in the media still very much lies ahead,” stresses Naziha Rjiba, a prominent journalist and vice president of the Observatory for the Freedom of Press, Publishing and Creation (OLPEC). “But people need to realise that freedom of speech is here and Tunisians want to talk. There is no going back.”