Local Lifelines Under Fire: RSF and 547 Sahel Radio Stations Demand Urgent Protection

In a bold regional initiative, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), alongside 547 community radio stations across the Sahel, has launched an urgent appeal to protect local journalism from growing threats. The joint statement, released during a large-scale mobilization event in Bamako on September 24, 2024, underscores the vital role community radio plays in informing rural populations in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Chad—regions increasingly plagued by violence, extremism, and media suppression.

Community radio stations in the Sahel are often the only accessible source of independent news for millions of people. Broadcasting in local languages, they serve as lifelines for information on health, security, and civic affairs. Yet these same stations and their journalists have become frequent targets. In Mali and Chad, journalists like Abdoul Aziz Djibrilla and Idriss Yaya were killed in cold blood, while others have been kidnapped or forced into hiding. Attacks have also left studios destroyed and entire communities without reliable information.

RSF and its regional partners are now calling for immediate action from governments and international institutions. Their five key demands include prosecuting those responsible for violence against journalists, securing the release of abducted media workers, rebuilding destroyed media infrastructure, providing professional safety training, and legally recognizing community radio as a protected and essential component of public service.

The joint appeal was translated and broadcast in six regional languages, symbolizing the unity and determination of local media actors to resist silencing through violence. RSF warns that without swift intervention, the Sahel risks becoming an “information desert,” where only armed groups control the narrative.

The growing crackdown on local media in the Sahel is not just a press freedom crisis—it is a democratic emergency. Community radio represents more than journalism; it is a pillar of civic resilience in fragile states. RSF’s initiative, backed by hundreds of stations, sends a clear message: journalism must not be abandoned at the margins. Protecting local media now is essential to preserving truth, accountability, and hope in one of the world’s most unstable regions.

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