From Mali to Chad, including Niger and Burkina Faso, journalists redoubled caution. The support group for Islam and Muslims (JNIM) and the Islamic State group in the Sahel (EIS) are their main opponents. In addition, the junts impose very strict rules when it is not a question of pure and simple censorships. Reporters must pay an accreditation, a formality that takes a lot of time and remains insufficient. Several zones remain prohibited from reproducing reprisals, even death in the worst of the eventualities.
Fake-News further complicate journalists' fight for the maintenance of their profession. They have been up since the presence of Wagner. The massive use of social networks increases the dissemination of true as false information and helps to discredit the work of reporters.
Fear and threats weigh on journalists and populations. Sabotages are legion. Between 2020 and 2022, terrorists destroy several telephone structures in Burkina Faso, leaving information to get lost in a thick fog of ignorance.
A decade under the sign of fear
In the Sahel, 2013 opened the horrors ball with the murders of French journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon in Kidal. The series continues with the death of two other Spanish journalists in 2021. The disappearances of Birama Touré in 2016, Hammadoun Nialibouly in 2020, Moussa Bana Dicko in 2021, Sory Koné in 2023 still extended the list. Other people like Olivier Dubois, kidnapped in 2021 and Aliou Touré, disappeared in 2023, experienced a less tragic destiny, and are released respectively 711 and 4 days later.
Shortly after the release of journalist Aliou Touré in 2023, the president of the Maison de la Presse du Mali, Bandiougou Dané, challenges the highest authorities in the state on their role and their responsiveness in the face of the muzzle and the dangers incurred. He requests better protection of journalists, recognition of their role in the current situation, and sanctions against those responsible.
In order to continue to exercise at a lower risk, journalists must ensure that nothing is opposed to the government. This implies the use of self -censorship. They are required to protect sources at all costs. In 2020, a Malian breeder was murdered shortly after his interview.
The hope of better conditions for journalism decreases in the face of all these events. Gradually, the Sahel becomes " the largest non-information area in Africa ".
