No News Is Bad News: Mali

Lack of professionalism is probably the most significant challenge facing the media sector in Mali. Media is susceptible to coercion and bribery, which compromises the quality of their content. Most training is received through short-term donor-supported workshops designed to provide basic journalism training that often does not fundamentally change journalists' attitude. The crisis in 2012 led to serious deterioration of press freedom conditions in the country. Several media organizations, particularly those in the north of the country, were vandalized or closed down mainly by the rebel groups that took over the territory. Journalists were subjected to various forms of attacks and intimidation. After the March 2012 coup, a number of journalists, particularly newspaper editors, were arrested, detained, and abused by security officials in Bamako. The crisis did not only affect access to information, but also had negative impact on information quality. One of the underlying causes of the crisis is that the poor quality of government services resulted in the fact that for many Malians the state lost relevance. In addition exclusion based on cast, ethnic group, class, gender and age further deteriorates the population's indifference towards state institutions. Media and civil society organizations were not capable to foster transparency of the decision-making process. Downward accountability of the media towards these marginalized groups has been low. Women remain a minority in the media and the main subjects covered are mostly of concern to men. Female reporters typically fulfill roles as animators (hosts) or news readers, and very few occupy editorial or management positions. Since women do not have a say in editorial decision-making in most organizations, there is significant inequality in the representation of their voices.