More than 40 journalists in Burkina Faso have taken part in a military-style “patriotism” training course imposed by the authoritarian ruling junta.
Burkina Faso, like several of its neighbours, has for more than a decade been hit by deadly violence by jihadists affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group.
Under captain 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 sitting their end-of-school leaving exams have been required to do a similar type of training in Burkina Faso since last year.
Traore has pushed an agenda of domestically driven and anti-Western policies with the proclaimed 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 frontline.
Organised by the security ministry, the journalists’ training was held at a police academy near the capital, Ouagadougou, the government said.
Men and women were among the 44 journalists and the course lasted six days.
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 together at attention.
“A professional journalist who is not a patriot is a threat to their country,” added Ouedraogo, who as well as serving as a minister is also the government’s spokesman.
