Burkina Faso media guide

A newspaper seller with newspapers in Ouagadougou headlining the September 2022 military coup

The media environment in Burkina Faso is relatively robust but US-based NGO Freedom House says the jihadist insurgency has curbed media access and that military leaders have further constrained the press.

In April 2024, Burkina Faso suspended a group of foreign media outlets - including the BBC - over their coverage of a report accusing the Burkinabè army of killing 223 civilians.

Some months later, the authorities cracked down on both local and international media houses amid speculation junta leader Captain Ibrahim Traore was facing a mutiny.

There are around 150 radio and TV stations and scores of newspapers and news websites.

Radio is the most popular medium. State broadcaster Radiodiffusion Television du Burkina (RTB) operates alongside dozens of private and community radio stations.

The BBC (99.2 FM in Ouagadougou) and Voice of America run full-time relays.

There were 4.6 million internet users by December 2021, 21% of the population (Internetworldstats.com)

• Media guides by BBC Monitoring

Press/online

• Aujourd'hui au Faso - private, daily, website in French and English

• Burkina 24 - news site

• Faso.actu - news site

• Infowakat.net - news site

• Le Faso.net - news site

• L'Observateur Paalga - private

• Le Pays - private, daily

• Sidwaya - official daily

• Sahelien - regional website based in Bamako, launched in 2014 with backing from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) focuses on news in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali

Television

• Television Nationale du Burkina - state-run

Radio

• Radio Burkina - state-run, runs national network and regional services, as well as entertainment station Canal Arc-en-Ciel

• Radio Pulsar - private

• Horizon FM - private

• Ouaga FM - private

News agency

• Agence d'Information du Burkina - official agency