Newspaper Blackout In Senegal As Publishers Protest Against Govt. Threats To Press Freedom

National newspapers in Senegal did not publish on Tuesday in protest against threats to press freedom under the new government.

Newspapers were placed on newsstands with nothing written inside but a black cover saying “journee sans presse” (which means “day without press”) accompanied by an image of three raised fists holding a pencil.

In a joint editorial published Monday by the Senegalese Council of Press Distributors and Publishers (CDEPS), the council called for one day of national blackout, saying that the freedom of the press was being threatened in Senegal.

For almost three months, the Senegalese press has been experiencing one of the darkest phases in its history, the editorial said. A demonisation campaign has been launched to present the media, as well as those who run them, as citizens who disrespect the law and do not fulfil any of their obligations, especially tax ones.

Senegal’s Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko, has condemned the “misappropriation of public funds,” accusing some media heads of failing to pay social security contributions.

In June, the prime minister said the media were writing whatever they wished without reliable sources in the name of press freedom. He warned that the government would no longer tolerate falsehood by journalists. The Senegalese press did not take Sonko’s comments lightly.

We may caricature, manipulate and falsify history, but we cannot deny the media the crucial role they have played in recent decades in strengthening democracy, through the awakening of citizens, by allowing them to access, especially with local languages, the tools that have allowed them to sharpen their civic awareness,” CDEPS said in the editorial.

“The Senegalese press cannot accept this denigration enterprise orchestrated on purpose to discredit it. We are seasoned for having experienced the methods of previous powers to understand what is going on. It is about blackening the scene and proceeding to an artificial selection and liquidation of private press companies according to its immediate political interests.

“The objective is none other than the control of information and the domestication of media actors,” it added.

The body of press said news outlets’ bank accounts were being blocked, production equipment seized, and advertising contracts illegally terminated, among other measures aimed at gagging press freedom.

Nonetheless, Reporter Without Borders has called on Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye to tackle the issue and promote press freedom. According to Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, Senegal slipped from 49th to 94th between 2021 and 2024.

Some broadcast stations supported the newspaper protests. Some television channels featured the protest slogan and image while they broadcast news, while very few radio stations did nothing all day but play music in solidarity with the press.

However, radio stations did not support the boycott, including some newspapers who argued that blackout should be the last resort as it deprives the audience of their right to information.

Senegal’s president, Faye, was sworn in April, after which he appointed his ally, Sonko, as prime minister. They were both imprisoned under the former government and were released days before the election that ushered in 44-year-old Faye.

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