L'Essor

Last updated
L'Essor
TypeDaily newspaper
L'Essor Hébdo Weekly newspaper
Owner(s)AMAP (Agence Malienne de Presse et de Publicité)
Editor Ousma Maïga
Founded1949
Political alignmentGovernment
LanguageFrench
HeadquartersSquare Patrice Lumumba
BP 141 Bamako
Website www.essor.ml

L'Essor (fr. Progress) is the state-owned national daily newspaper published in Bamako, Mali. Its motto is "La Voix du Peuple" ("The Voice of the People").

Contents

History

L'Essor was first published in 1949, and from 1953 was the official publication of the Union Soudanaise-Rassemblement Démocratique Africain, the leading anti-colonial political party of what was then French Soudan. Prior to independence, Bamako was home to a large number of such publications, produced by most political factions. Through the 1960s, most were outlawed, disbanded, or simply failed financially.

Following the 1968 military coup, L'Essor became the organ of the CMLN, Mali's ruling junta. [1] In 1979, as part of the move to civilian governance, the paper was transferred to the unitary political party of the former military rulers, the UDPM. During this period, largely due to better distribution and higher literacy, circulation grew from 12,000 daily (early 1970s) to over 40,000 (late 1980s). [2] Even after the fall of the Socialist government in 1968, the paper continued to carry articles from the Soviet and Chinese wire services, giving it an anti-Western slant. Most domestic writing prior to 1991 focused on local events and government decrees and speeches. [1]

Following the 1991 return to democracy, L'Essor was again transferred, this time to a new government owned printing and distribution house, the Malian Agency for Press and Publicity. While managed by the Malian Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, the AMP and L'Essor retain a high degree of independence from the government.

Operations

L'Essor is one of 15 French language dailies published Mali. Most are printed in Bamako, and L'Essor alone retains a national reach. Its circulation is challenged only by the two largest French language private dailies, Les Echos and Nouvel Horizon. The AMAP has its own printing facilities, which also print government publications, including the "Journal Officiel" which publishes all official government pronouncement, debates, laws and regulations. L'Essor maintains a weekly, L'Essor Hébdo, which focuses on social issues. Editorials in L'Essor come from the editorial staff and management, not the government, and press organisations have judged the paper to be largely free of government interference, a charge leveled at the state broadcaster ORTM. [3] Journalists for L’Essor itself have claimed there is self-censorship in dealing with those in power: "Since L’Essor is governmentally owned, there are limits to what we can write about politics. But when it comes to social issues, we have a great freedom, there are no taboos." [4]

L'Essor also has economic advantages, in that government ministries and state enterprises use its pages for their advertisements, for legal notices, and purchase newspaper subscriptions. On the other hand, it maintains reporters and distribution across the nation, tasks too expensive for private papers. All state printing and broadcast agencies receive government subsidies, and while private publishers an eligible for smaller subsidies, they must be assessed to have met certain financial, labour, bookkeeping, and distribution standards. [5]

As of 2008, L'Essor's Director is Souleymane Drabo and Editor is Ousma Maïga. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamako</span> Capital and largest city of Mali

Bamako is the capital and largest city of Mali, with a 2022 population of 4,227,569. It is located on the Niger River, near the rapids that divide the upper and middle Niger valleys in the southwestern part of the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alpha Oumar Konaré</span> Malian politician, President from 1992 to 2002

Alpha Oumar Konaré is a Malian politician, professor, historian and archaeologist, who served as President of Mali for two five-year terms from 1992 to 2002 and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission from 2003 to 2008.

Kuensel is the national newspaper of the Kingdom of Bhutan. It was the only local newspaper available in Bhutan until 2006 when two more newspapers were launched. The government of Bhutan owns 51% of Kuensel while 49% is held by the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta</span> President of Mali from 2013 to 2020

Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, often known by his initials IBK, was a Malian politician who served as the president of Mali from September 2013 to August 2020, when he was forced to resign in the 2020 Malian coup d'état. He served as Mali's prime minister from February 1994 to February 2000 and as president of the National Assembly of Mali from September 2002 to September 2007.

Cheick Oumar Sissoko is a Malian film director and politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiébilé Dramé</span> Malian politician

Tiébilé Dramé is a Malian politician who served in the government of Mali as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1992. In the years since, he has remained active on the political scene, while also acting as a diplomat and mediator in regional crises. Since May 6, 2019 again served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs until the 2020 Malian coup d'état.

The Democratic Union of the Malian People was a military-backed political party in Mali. Its main organ was the daily newspaper L'Essor – La Voix du Peuple, which had a circulation of 40,000. It was the largest newspaper in the country during the mid-1980s.

La Voz de Galicia is a Spanish daily newspaper owned by the Corporación Voz de Galicia. La Voz is highest circulation newspaper in Galicia and the eighth-highest circulation general-interest daily newspaper in Spain. It is written primarily in Spanish with Galician used in the cultural and opinion sections.

<i>Népszabadság</i> Hungarian daily newspaper (1956–2016)

Népszabadság was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian People's Republic. Before its closure, Népszabadság was considered the de facto newspaper of record for Hungary.

The mass media in Mali includes print, radio, television, and the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stade Malien</span> Malian football club

Stade Malien is a Malian professional football and sports club based in Bamako. One of the two dominant clubs of Malian football, their eastern Bamako training grounds host other sports as well, including a successful basketball club.

The Daily Times is a newspaper with headquarters in Lagos. At its peak, in the 1970s, it was one of the most successful locally owned businesses in Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office de Radiodiffusion-Télévision du Mali</span> National broadcaster in Mali

The Office of Radio and Television of Mali is the national broadcaster of the West African state of Mali.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Fahd Bridge</span>

The King Fahd Bridge of Bamako, Mali connects the older sections of the Malian capital to its broad suburbs on the south shore of the Niger River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choguel Kokalla Maïga</span> Malian politician

Choguel Kokalla Maïga is a Malian politician and President of the Patriotic Movement for Renewal, a political party in Mali, and current Prime Minister of the Transition. He served in the government as Minister of Industry and Trade from 2002 to 2007 and later as Minister of the Digital Economy, Information and Communication from 2015 to 2016. On 4 June 2021, he was named Prime Minister of the Transition by coup leader & newly appointed President of Transition Assimi Goïta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newspaper</span> Scheduled publication of information about current events

A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports, art, and science. They often include materials such as opinion columns, weather forecasts, reviews of local services, obituaries, birth notices, crosswords, editorial cartoons, comic strips, and advice columns.

<i>Navajo Times</i> Navajo Tribal Council newspaper

The Navajo Times – known during the early 1980s as Navajo Times Today – is a newspaper created by the Navajo Tribal Council in 1959; in 1982 it was the first daily newspaper owned and published by a Native American Indian Nation. Now financially independent, it is published in English; its headquarters are located in Window Rock, Arizona.

Aïcha Aminata Laïla Fofana was a Malian translator and author. With Mariage: on copie (1994), she became the first woman in Mali to publish a novel. A women's rights activist, her writings are aimed at improving the social conditions for women in Mali.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Bamako, Mali.

The Direction Nationale des Archives du Mali is a governmental entity responsible for safeguarding archival heritage of Mali, including the collection and preservation of its national archives. The National Assembly approved its creation in 2002. Previously the Minister of Culture directed archives-related efforts.

References

  1. 1 2 Baggott Carter, Erin; Carter, Brett L. (2023). Propaganda in Autocracies: Institutions, Information, and the Politics of Belief. Cambridge University Press. p. 86. doi:10.1017/9781009271226. ISBN   978-1-009-27122-6.
  2. ↑ Imperato (1986), p. 267
  3. ↑ "Media Sustainability Index (MSI) 2006/7 Mali". IREX. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01.
  4. ↑ "Malian and Senegalese newspapers collaborate on many levels". RAP 21. World Association of Newspapers. 2002. Newsletter n° 57. Archived from the original on 2006-10-19.
  5. ↑ This is under the 1992 article 7 of Decree No. 03- 264 /P-RM. For the wording see MSI Africa 2006-2007: Mali
  6. ↑ "Organisation Record - L'Essor". AfDevInfo. 23 Aug 2007. Archived from the original on May 19, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.