A cog in a wheel? Journalism under pressure during coups d’état in Burkina Faso

Abstract

This article explores how the (attempted) coups and popular uprising that occurred in Burkina Faso between October 2014 and January 2022 have impacted the professional boundaries of journalism. These events are considered crucial in understanding the complex and ongoing interactions between political actors and the media, and contribute to a better understanding of the broader reality of journalism’s boundary-making process across Africa. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted with journalists, editors and journalism teachers in Ouagadougou in 2022, this article investigates the roles that private and public media journalists aimed to play in these extreme conditions and how their reactions reflect the constantly evolving nature of the journalistic profession.