Rebel fighters of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), a separatist movement of ethnic Tuaregs in northern Mali, stormed the offices of private Radio Adar Khoïma in the northeastern town of Gao on April 3, 2012, according to local journalists and news reports. The rebels kidnapped a journalist and assaulted him, and…
Lagos, Nigeria, August 7, 2012–Members of an Islamist militant group attacked a radio journalist in Mali on Sunday and ordered his station off the air, according to local journalists and news reports. The attack was in retaliation for the station’s coverage of local protests, according to local journalists and a leader of the Islamist group.
Unidentified armed men wearing masks abducted Abdrahmane Keïta, editor of the private bi-weekly L’Aurore, in a public square in Bamako, the capital, at about 8:30 p.m. on July 2, 2012, according to local journalists and news reports. The gunmen dragged Keïta onto their vehicle while repeatedly kicking and beating him with truncheons, the reports said.
Yesterday, while reporting on breaking news in Mali from studios in Atlanta, CNN Wire Newsdesk Editor Faith Karimi made an ominous observation that presaged the outcome of developments unfolding 5,000 miles away. “#Mali president @PresidenceMali has not tweeted in 10 hours after reports of gunfire and a coup attempt,” she tweeted.
In terms of freedom of expression and democratic and media pluralism, Mali is undeniably today one of the leading countries in francophone Africa. In this year marking the 50th anniversary of Mali’s independence, the country’s media pool includes 300 private FM radio stations, and about 50 newspapers and periodicals. This incredible blossoming of the Malian press is due to…
Your Excellencies: As you gather in Paris for festivities that celebrate your nations’ 50 years of independence, we, the undersigned African press freedom advocates petition for your public commitment to a free, vibrant, and self-sustaining press as a cornerstone of the development of francophone Africa in the next five decades.