Senegalese newspapers go dark amid warnings about press freedom

Senegalese travelers hoping to read the news on their way to work were disappointed on Tuesday – most national newspapers refused to publish in protest at what they see as a reduction in media freedom under the new government.

The media is going through “one of the darkest days in its history,” the local Council of Press Distributors and Publishers (CDEPS) said.

It accuses the government – led by former opposition politicians – of freezing the bank accounts of media companies and confiscating their equipment for alleged non-payment of taxes.

Authorities justify the crackdown by saying they were trying to end practices that lead to financial embezzlement and mismanagement in the media industry.

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye came to power in March after defeating the ruling coalition candidate in the elections.

His rise to power came after the opposition led huge protests to demand elections that then-president Macky Sall postponed, in what his critics considered a maneuver to stay in power.

As part of Tuesday’s media blackout, newspapers were displayed on newsstands without any content inside. The issues consisted only of a black cover with the words “journée sans presse” (French for “day without press”) and an image of three raised fists holding a pencil.

Not all newspapers participated in the protest – the private outlet Wal Fadjri classified the blackout as an “ugly scar on the face of our beautiful democracy”.

While agreeing that the press was going through a “crisis”, Wal Fadjri said that a blackout should be a last resort as it would deprive readers of their right to information.

Radio stations largely rejected the boycott, but two popular private stations chose to play music rather than broadcast the news.

Private television channels such as TFM (owned by Grammy-winning singer Youssou N’Dour), ITV and 7 TV broadcast news while demonstrating their support for the protest by featuring its slogan and image.

Concerns that Faye’s government would try to restrict social media emerged a few months ago.

Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was criticized by media professionals in June for warning that the government would no longer tolerate “falsehood” from journalists who, he said, enjoyed “too much impunity”.

Sonko was the public face of the opposition and was barred from running for president. He then supported Mr Faye.

Both were arrested during the previous government and committed to fighting corruption and strengthening democracy in Senegal.

From 2021 to 2024, Senegal fell from 49th to 94th place in the world press freedom index of Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog.

The rights group recently urged Senegal’s new president to take steps to promote press freedom, following years of “arrests and attacks on journalists, closures of media outlets and arbitrary internet shutdowns” under Sall’s government.

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