Laurens Nijzink is an independent journalist and researcher who has been working for many years on media and sociopolitical issues in Chad and across the Sahel. He is editor-in-chief and coordinator of several academic initiatives at Voice4Thought, a Dutch NGO that provides a platform for inclusive debates based on critical knowledge production. In this context, he co-led a study on the media ecology in Mali with Fondation Hirondelle between June and July 2025.
Drawing on this research and on his experience in the region, this interview provides an overview of the situation of radios in the Sahel and highlights some of the conclusions of the report produced with Voice4Thought.
What are the main challenges facing community radios in the Sahel today? And how are they managing to adapt?
Mali is quite representative of the situation in the Sahel. We analyzed radio and media ecology within the framework of what we call the “polycrisis”, meaning that several crises coexist, interact with each other and reinforce one another.
The challenges radios are facing are mainly linked to insecurity, which is a general problem but especially visible in the North. On the one hand there are non-state armed groups, and on the other hand the army fighting them. The population is caught in between, and the radios as well. This often leads journalists to practice self-censorship and pushes them to prioritize cultural and artistic programmes instead.
There is also an economic crisis. Some villages or towns are completely cut off from the outside world: goods no longer arrive and NGOs are leaving the region. Community radios are struggling to survive financially, and many people work on a voluntary basis. This economic crisis also affects access to training for journalists, simply because there are not enough resources or time. There are hardly any journalism schools, so training of junior journalists often takes place informally by the seniors.
Despite all these difficulties, radio still plays a major role in Mali and keeps this position as a reliable medium — sometimes the only one. When an event happens, many people are on the spot before radio journalists. They film with their mobile phones and immediately put the video online. But many people still wait for the evening radio news bulletin to understand what really happened.
This level of trust is quite remarkable and encouraging. There are radio journalists who, despite all the everyday obstacles they face, continue working because the population is counting on them. And on top of all this there is also political instability.
Are younger generations in the Sahel increasingly getting their information through social media? How can radios continue reaching this audience?
There is a clear divide between urban and rural areas. In rural areas, radio remains the main source of information.
We also observe a strong generational divide. Young people use the Internet a lot in addition to radio. In Chad for instance, in rural areas, young people still listen to radio while also consulting social media and online information, which is often their main source of news. For older people, radio remains central.
One example I find interesting: we once launched a call for applications in Chad aimed at young people with a bachelor-level degree. To my surprise, many people responded to this announcement because they had heard it on the radio.
Even though some radios already do this, but not yet in a structured way, one of the main challenges is to collaborate with other media makers, or to combine information coming from the Internet with the traditional work of reporters on the ground.
With the rise of digital tools and now artificial intelligence, how are journalistic practices evolving?
First of all, we should distinguish digital tools from artificial intelligence (AI). Digital means of production have evolved enormously. Today, with very simple equipment, you can produce high-quality radio programmes.
Artificial intelligence, however, creates other kinds of challenges. A lot of unreliable AI-generated content is already circulating on the Internet. Local radios are increasingly developing fact-checking programmes and verifying the information they receive. But there is also a deeper issue, which is the polarization of society and the circulation of biased information. These are much harder to detect and they can fuel conflicts or reinforce divisions.
This is why media literacy is essential. And if journalists understand the media ecology well — meaning how information circulates and who produces it — they can analyze and contextualize the information they receive. They can ask themselves questions like: where does this information come from? What position does this person occupy in the media landscape? What could be their intention? I think that today, critical analysis of information remains the best defense against disinformation.