Burkina Faso has taken a new step in its patriotic mobilization drive by imposing military style training on the country’s journalists this year, a measure that adds to one already in place since 2025 for new baccalaureate graduates. The two measures are distinct but driven by the same philosophy, reflecting the determination of the government led by Captain Ibrahim Traore to strengthen what it presents as the patriotic spirit of the population, in a country that has faced a jihadist insurgency since 2015 that has killed thousands and displaced more than two million people.
On the journalist side, forty four professionals from public and private media outlets took part in a five day training course from August 9 to 14 at the police academy in Pabre, near Ouagadougou. The program included soldier basics, tactical first aid, weapons handling and exercises on a shooting range. The Communication Ministry has already announced that this so called patriotic immersion will become an annual requirement for all media in the country. The Communication Minister justified the measure by arguing that a professional journalist lacking patriotism represents a threat to their country, while the head of the police academy presented the training as a way to help media better understand the security situation on the ground.
The program for high school graduates is older, having first been introduced in July 2025 and renewed again this year. The mandatory patriotic immersion for 2026 graduates, organized by the Ministry of Secondary Education, runs from July 27 to August 26 in regional capitals and select provincial capitals across the country. It applies exclusively to candidates who passed this year’s baccalaureate exam, as well as 2025 candidates who have not yet completed the requirement. Students who passed the BEPC, CAP or BEP exams are not affected. Authorities say the goal is to strengthen civic awareness, patriotic values and a sense of citizen responsibility among young people before they move into higher education or the workforce.
Reactions to these initiatives have been mixed. Authorities and some participants point to the professional and civic value of the training. One journalist trainee praised the experience as useful for better understanding the security context in which the profession operates. Press freedom groups such as Reporters Without Borders, on the other hand, view the measure as a worrying signal for media independence. Human rights organizations go further, alleging, without independent verification, that journalists critical of the government have in the past been forcibly conscripted into combat units.
These measures fit into a broader political line adopted by the junta that has ruled since the 2022 coup, which champions a sovereigntist, anti Western approach to running the country, including on security and media matters. With several media outlets already suspended in recent years, extending this patriotic immersion logic to journalists marks a further tightening of state control over Burkinabe civil society.