A War For Information - Burkina Faso

Common sense can make us think that certain areas of earth are doomed to live in an “eternal danger” and, unfortunately, several African countries seem to apply to this kind of paradigm.

Burkina Faso is one of those countries that the west mainly names when something goes wrong. It is a place where a war for information is underway. Dramatic stories and security tragedies set a better background for easy journalism. This kind of information is toxic and brings little knowledge to the reader. When speaking about security incidents and risk management, a deeper kind of analysis is necessary and yet, more respectful.

The last shot:

During the last few days, international newspapers have been flooded by pieces regarding the recent killing of three Europeans in the south-eastern region of Burkina Faso. Local security sources claim that the attack was organized and developed by unknown gunmen, but these sources are based on very early news and could be deeply biased as it frequently happens in such circumstances.

Earlier sources at the Madrid Foreign Ministry had confirmed to Europa Press that two Spanish citizens had been kidnapped during an attack and that the Spanish embassy in Mali, which is the one accredited in Burkina Faso, was in close contact with the families of the two missing.

Security sources, cited by the Infowakat news portal, had indicated that the attack near Pama had been conducted by unidentified armed persons against an anti-poaching unit patrol and had resulted in three wounded and four missing, including a member of the security forces. The convoy attacked, continues El Pais, was composed of two pickups and about twenty motorbikes on board which there were journalists, environmental activists and security personnel. The two Spaniards had come down from one of the pickups to make some shots and photos with a drone when the armed men attacked the convoy. Unfortunately, these were the last shots from the reporters.

Each national press behaves differently towards this dramatic news and reconstructing the real nature of the attack and the increase of violence in the country is not an easy task.

Watch this video to know more about the dynamics of the attack:

Credit: Reuters YouTube Channel

A war for information:

Journalists are a very endangered category if it comes to field security. Traditionally, we are led to think and educated to intend the figure of the journalist as a “neutral” professional who can operate in the most remote areas of the world with the awareness of being immune to external attacks but this is a great bias.

In certain areas and conditions, the local scenario does not apply to the international rules. Laws that were meant to protect democratic and free information simply are not respected. Journalism and information is a real war in certain areas. The reporters are the honorable and silent warriors who are ready to die for the mission of providing original and true information to us.

When speaking about the victims of terror and ignorance, respect is not a choice, it’s the only way. In a world where free information and uncensored news are becoming more and more rare. Our best bet is to fight for and support the heroes who live and die by the pen.

Andrea Silvestri

for Insider Release

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