Gabonese press organizations call for urgent reforms to address economic crisis

They highlighted the continuous deterioration of the economic environment for the press and called for ambitious reforms to ensure its sustainability. Jean-Yves Ntoutoume, president of Opam, read the statement, which diagnosed a sector facing a crisis that threatens its independence, its mission to inform, and the quality of democratic debate. The organizations emphasized that a financially struggling media outlet compromises its independence and the constitutional right of Gabonese citizens to free, credible, and pluralistic information.

They proposed several recommendations to reform the sector's economic model, including a substantial increase in public aid to private media which has remained at 500 million CFA francs since 2003, the implementation of digital compensation funded by a levy on mobile operators, better targeting of institutional advertising towards the national press, the establishment of a specific tax regime for media companies, and the harmonization of journalist accreditation procedures with public institutions. They also advocated for the revaluation of the professional