Gabon / Africa

  
A man sets up a satellite dish in Zimbabwe, where state news is severely restricted on the ongoing protests in the Middle East, but where CNN is still accessible. (AP)

Sub-Saharan Africa censors Mideast protests

As news of Middle Eastern and North African protests swirl around the globe, satellite television and the Internet prove vital sources of information for Africans as governments fearful of an informed citizenry and a free press such as in Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, and Zimbabwe impose total news blackouts on the developments.

Read More ›

Obame after being "sworn in." The government took it seriously. (AFP)

In Gabon, faux news draws real censorship

Last week, Gabon’s government-controlled National Communications Council ordered the TV station of opposition leader André Mba Obame off the air for a period of three months. The ruling is without appeal and, typically, this is how authorities in this oil-rich equatorial African state silence critical news outlets. Except that, this time, the “reporting” for which the…

Read More ›

Gabonese journalists at Radio TV Top Bendje, whose transmitters were disconnected during the 2009 elections. (Radio TV Top Bendje)

In Gabon, censorship lingers from 2009 vote

In Gabon, more than a year after the historic and contested presidential elections won by Ali Ben Bongo Ondimba, the main radio and television stations of Ondimba’s two main opponents still face administrative obstructions imposed during the polls, according to interviews CPJ conducted with journalists and officials between July and September.

Read More ›

Gabon’s press blossoms, faces financial challenges

I will never forget that morning of August 17, 1960, in Port-Gentil when I was awakened with a jolt by the screams: “Long live independence, long live freedom!” Yet Gabon would not see the emergence of an independent and pluralistic press until the democratization process of 1990. 

Read More ›

Gabon’s bloggers struggle to take hold

It’s been a couple of weeks since I left Gabon, and a month since elections to pick a successor to Omar Bongo, who ruled Africa’s fourth-largest oil producer for 41 years. There are unresolved questions about the ballot count and the number of people killed in post-election violence. 

Read More ›

A French lawsuit challenges the assets of Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang, Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso, and Gabonese President Omar Bongo. (AFP)

Ossébi’s byline missing as sensitive case moves forward

A French judge on Tuesday authorized an anti-corruption group to pursue a complaint that questions how the leaders of three oil-rich, central African nations amassed their personal assets. One byline was absent in news media coverage: Bruno Ossébi, an online Congolese columnist and one of the few local journalists who had covered the sensitive issue.…

Read More ›

Gabon media silent on French freezing president’s assets

News that a judge in France froze the private bank accounts of Gabon’s President Omar Bongo was all over the international media but barely a word appeared in the national press.

Read More ›