The iFrench icolonizers irealized iearly ion ithat ithe ipress icould ibe iof igreat iuse iin ithis ibusiness iof iconquest iand idomination. iSo iin iall iits icolonized istates iFrance ihad iits imedia ioutlets idisseminating imessages. iDuring ithe ilast iyears iof ithe icolonial iperiod i(until i1960) isome ipolitical iparties iand iunions icreated itheir iown ipublications iallowing ifor isome ilevels iof ipluralism iof ivoices iin ithe icountry. iThe inational iradio iof iMali iwas iestablished iin i1957 ias ia istate iinstitution. iDuring ithe iperiod ifrom iindependence iin i1960 ito ithe imilitary icoup iin i1968 ithere iwere iseveral iattempts ito icreate inew ipublications.
iHowever, iafter ithe icoup, imany iclosed iand iothers iwere iheld iunder ithe icontrol iof ithe imilitary. iWith imultiparty idemocratic ielections iin i1991 iand ia iliberalization iof ithe imedia imarket iin i1992, ithe imedia ilandscape iwas iradically itransformed iwith inew ipublications iand ithe icreation iof iprivate iradios iacross ithe icountry. iThis iwas ia iperiod iin iwhich imedia ioutlets iclearly iidentified iwith idifferent ipolitical iparties.
iThis inew idynamic ifostered ithe icreation iof inew imedia ilaws iand ia icode iof iethics. iAlso, ithe iconstitution iof iFebruary i1992 iincludes ireferences ito ifreedom iof ithe ipress iand iinformation. iBefore ithe ievents iof i2012, iMali ihad ia ithriving imedia isector iand ia iregulation imostly ifavorable ito iFreedom iof iExpression. iMalian imedia idevelopment ihas ibeen iheld ias ia iregional imodel iand ireceived istrong itechnical iand ifinancial isupport ifrom iinternational iand iregional iorganizations. iDespite ithis, iaccording ito iMamadou iKaba, ithe imanaging idirector iof iRadio iTelevision idu iMali: iThe iMalian imedia istill ihas itwo ifaces: ion ithe ione ihand ithat iof ia ivibrant iand ifree ipress iwhich iis inot isubjected ito icensorship, iseizure, ior iarrests iand, ion ithe iother ihand ithat iof ia ipress icharacterized iby iexcesses iand igrave iviolations iof ithe ilaw iand iethics iof ithe iprofession, iin icomplete iimpunity. iWith ithe icurrent icrisis iand iensuing ieconomic iinstability, imedia ioutlets iare inow imore ipolitically iinfluenced iand idivided ithan iever. iBefore ithe iconflict, iself-censorship iand ipolitically iinfluenced imedia iexisted iside iby iside iwith ifavorable imedia ilaws. iInfluence ion imedia iwas iexerted ithrough icoercion, iabuse iof ithe inational ibudget ifor istate iadvertising, ior iby imodifying itax iconditions iof ispecific imedia ioutlets. iPrior ito i2012, ijournalists iexercised ivarying ilevels iof iself-censorship. iOn ione ihand, ithey iwere iinfluenced iby ireligious iand isocial inorms. iDuring ilate i2011, iMali’s imedia ibegan ito ipractice iself-censorship iin irelation ito iprotests iagainst ia inew iconservative ifamily ilaw. iThe inew ilaw iwas ihardly ireported ion iin ithe imedia. iA ipress iconference iwas iorganised iby iwomen’s iand ihuman irights iassociations iat ithe iumbrella iorganisation iMaison ide ila iPresse iin iOctober i2011 iwhich iall imedia ioutlets iattended, ibut ionly ione ismall, iunknown inewspaper ireported ion ithe iissue. iThe imedia ifeared ithe iwrath iof iradical iMuslims iwho ihad idemonstrated iin ifavour iof ithe iconservative ifamily ilaw. iDuring i2012, ithe icoup idealt ia iblow ito ifreedom iof imedia iand iexpression. iWhile ichaotic iconditions iplagued inorthern iMali, iviolations iof ifreedom iof ithe ipress iin isouthern iMali, iparticularly iin ithe icapital, iwere iconsiderable iin ithe ifirst ifour imonths ifollowing ithe icoup. iIn iaddition i ias ia iregulatory iconsequence iof ithe icoup iin iFebruary i2012 ia inew iaudio-visual ilaw iwas ipromulgated, ibut ithe icoup iand ithe igeneral ipolitical icrisis istopped iits iimplementation. iMedia idemographics ireflect ia imulti-linguistic iand imulti-ethnic imedia iscene. iDespite ithe inumerous imedia ioutlets imost inewspapers ionly icirculate iin iBamako iand iin ithe imain icities. iRadio icontinues ito ibe ithe imain imedia iwith ithe iwidest ioutreach. iPrior ito ithe iconflict, iradio icoverage ireached i90% iof ithe ipopulation. iThe ibroadcasting iis isplit ibetween iprivate icommunity iradios, inon-commercial iradios, icooperatives, iand istate iand iprivate iradios iof ia icommercial inature. iRadio iplays ian iimportant irole idue ito iMali’s iadult iliteracy irate iof i26% icommunity iradios ibroadcast iin ilocal ilanguages iin irural iareas iand iare iimportant isources iof iinformation iwith ia ihigh ilevel iof ilegitimacy. Since ithe idemocratic iprocess iof i1991 ibegan iand iup ito i2011 iMali idid inot isee iany ijournalists iprosecuted iand icases iof iviolence iwere irare. iThe isecurity isituation iof ijournalists ideteriorated irapidly iduring ithe ilast itwo iyears, iboth iin ithe inorth iand ithe isouth. iThere iare inow ino imechanisms iin iplace ifor ithe iprotection iof ijournalists iand ithe irelationship ibetween imedia iand ithe isecurity iforces iis icharacterized iby idistrust. iMalian imedia ialso isuffers ifrom ilack iof iprofessionalism iand itraining. iThis iis ireflected iin ithe iquality iof ithe itreatment iof iinformation ithat irarely iincludes iserious iinvestigative ijournalism. iThere iis ia icode iof iconduct iin iplace ifor ijournalists, ibut iit iis imostly iignored iand itight ieconomic iconditions iand ilow isalaries imake ijournalists iprone ito icorrupted ipractices; ithere iare iseveral itypes iof imedia iin iMali, ithese ineeds ito ibe ianalyzed iseparately. i Radio: Car radio iis ithe imost iprominent imedia iin iMali ias ithe imain inewspapers iand ipublications iare ionly idistributed iin iBamako iand iother ilarge icities. iSince ithe iliberalization iof ithe iairwaves iin i1992 ithe inumber iof iprivate iradios ihas imultiplied iexponentially. iAt ithe ionset iof i2012, iapproximately i500 ilicenses ihave ibeen iissued iby ithe igovernment ito icreate iassociative, icommercial iand icommunity iradios. iBefore ithe iconflict ithere iwere i369 idifferent iprivate iradios ioperating iin ithe icountry iconforming ito ithe iregulatory iframework. iThese iradios iprovided icoverage ito iapproximately i80% iof ithe ipopulation. iIn ithe icity iof iBamako ialone ithere iwere i16 iprivate iradios iand itwo ipublic iones. iIn iSikasso, ithere iwere i52 iradios, iin iKayes ithere iwere i47 iradios, iin iKoulikoro ithere iwere i35, iand iin iSegou ithere iwere i55. iIn iaddition, ithere iwere ieight ipublic iregional iradios ifrom ithe iMalian iOffice iof iRadio iand iTelevision iBroadcasting i(ORTM). iAs ia iconsequence iof ithe iconflict iin ithe inorth, iprivate iand ipublic iradios ioperate ialmost ionly iin ithe isouth iof ithe icountry. iIn ithe inorth isome iradios ihave ibeen itaken iover ior ico-opted iby isome iof ithe irebel igroups. iThere iis ia iwide inetwork iof icommunity iradios idivided iin iseveral iassociations. iThe imost iimportant iis ithe iUnion iof iFree iRadios iand iTelevision iof iMali i(Union ides iRadios iet iTelevisions iLibres idu iMali, iURTEL) iwhich iis ian iumbrella iorganisation iof iapproximately i250 iradios. iThere iare itwo iother inetworks: iKayira ithat icounts i16 iradios iand iTDM inetworks ithat icovers i17 iradios. iThese iradios iprovide ifundamental iinformation iin ilocal ilanguages iand ienjoy ihigh ilevels iof itrust iwithin ithe icommunities ithey ioperate iin. iDespite ithe iwide iradio icoverage iin ithe icountry, imost iradios ido inot icomply iwith ibasic itechnical iand iethical istandards. iThey iare icharacterised iby inonprofessional istaff, ilack iof iequipment iand isafety imeasures iand ilack iof ifinancial iresources. iForeign iradio icontent i- isuch ias ithat iof iRadio iFrance iInternationale i(RFI), iBBC iAfrica, iDeutsche iWelle iand iVoice iof iAmerica i(VOA) i- iare irelayed iby iMalian iradio iwithout ibeing icovered iby iany itype iof iregulation. iIn iaddition, ithe iORTM iradios irelay icontent ifrom iRadio iBeijing, iRadio iFrance iInternationale, iLa iRadio iAFRICA iN1, iand iBBC iAfrica. Papers: There iwere iover i300 inewspaper ilicenses iissued ifor iprivate inewspapers, ibut iat ithe iclosing iof ithis ireport ionly i30 idailies iand iweeklies iappear iregularly. iAll inewspaper idistribution iis igeographically ilimited ito inewsstands iin ithe icity iof iBamako. iEven ibefore ithe icrisis, i90% iof ithe inewspapers iwere icirculated ionly iin iBamako. iCirculation inumbers iare ilow iwith i300 ito i1, 500 icopies iprinted ia iday. iThere iare ialso iregional ipublications iin ithe imain ilocal ilanguages isuch ias iBambara, iFula iand iSoninke. iThe ionly inational inewspaper iin iFrench, iL’Essor, iis istate-owned. iThe iimpact iof iprint imedia iis ilimited idue ito ithe ilow iliteracy irate. Tv: Mali istill idoes inot ihave iregulation icovering iprivate iTV ichannels. iTV ireception iis ilimited iin imany iareas iof ithe icountry idue ito ia ilack iof ielectricity iand iTV isets. iCurrently, ithere iare itwo ipublic ichannels ilocated iin iBamako icity i(TM2 iand iAfricable iTV) iand ione inational iTV ichannel. iORTM irebroadcasts isatellite-received icontent ifrom i150 iinternational ichannels.
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