Senegal’s media organisations staged a blackout day on Tuesday to protest a government crackdown they claim targets them directly and seeks to impede press freedoms in the West African country.
On Tuesday, television channels TFM, ITV, and 7 TV went dark, and radio stations RFM and iRadio were silent.
Most daily newspapers did not publish, with the exceptions of government-owned Le Soleil and the pro-government WalfQuotidien and Yoor Yoor Bi.
This blackout reflects growing tensions between media organisations and the government, raising international concerns about press freedoms in Senegal, one of Africa’s most stable democracies.
Additionally, Senegal’s major media companies face significant debt, jeopardising their economic stability.
The Senegalese Council of Press Distributors and Publishers reported that the government had frozen the media outlets’ bank accounts, seized production equipment, and unilaterally terminated advertising contracts, citing issues with back taxes.
The claims, detailed in an editorial in Le Quotidien on Monday, could not be independently verified, and government officials were not immediately available for comment.
The editorial described the situation as “one of the darkest phases of its history” for the Senegalese press.
In June, Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko, who took office earlier this year, criticised what he called a “misappropriation of public funds” within the media industry.
Additionally, Reporters Without Borders has reported an increase in police brutality against journalists and the arrest of government critics in Senegal over recent years, urging the government to protect press freedoms.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) reports that Senegal’s ranking on its World Press Freedom Index has fallen from 49th to 94th over the past three years.
This index assesses factors such as journalists’ working conditions and safety. RSF’s West Africa chief, Sadibou Marong, told The Associated Press that “journalists are not sufficiently protected when doing their job and politicians are not playing their role in the matter.”
He further stated that “even worse, the political forces have endangered the right to inform and be informed”.
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