Burkina imposes military training on journalists

(AFP) — More than 40 journalists in Burkina Faso have taken part in a military-style “patriotism” training course imposed by the country’s authoritarian ruling junta.

Burkina Faso, like several of its neighbors, has for more than a decade been hit by deadly violence from jihadists affiliated with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group.

Under Capt. Ibrahim Traore, who seized power in a 2022 coup, the military-led authorities now require public and private media outlets to participate in the annual “patriotic immersion.”

“This initiative is a new, very worrying signal for press freedom,” Sadibou Marong, sub-Saharan Africa bureau director at media watchdog Reporters Without Borders, told AFP on Friday.

“Journalists are not soldiers and must not be turned into mouthpieces for the war effort, dressed in military uniforms and with weapons in their hands,” he added.

High school students taking their school-leaving exams have been required to undergo similar training in Burkina Faso since last year.

Traore has pushed an agenda of domestically driven, anti-Western policies with the stated aim of reclaiming national sovereignty.

Numerous media outlets have been suspended. According to rights groups, dozens of journalists critical of the junta have been forcibly conscripted and sent to the front line.

Organized by the Security Ministry, the journalists’ training was held at a police academy near the capital, Ouagadougou, the government said.

The six-day course included 44 male and female journalists.

In a video shared on social media by RTB public television, Communication Minister Pingdwende Gilbert Ouedraogo addressed dozens of journalists dressed in military fatigues and holding rifles.

“Are you going to be patriotic and professional journalists?” Ouedraogo asked them.

“Affirmative,” they replied in unison, standing at attention.

“A professional journalist who is not a patriot is a threat to their country,” added Ouedraogo, who also serves as the government’s spokesman.