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When wars assume new forms, a commitment to serve freedom of information means taking risks that are hard to calculate. The negative correlation between conflicts and freedom of information was highlighted by the way Maliand Central African Republicplunged in the index.

Control of the media has always been a strategic goal in conflicts. When soldiers led by Capt. Amadou Sanogo staged a coup d'tat in the Malian capital of Bamako in March 2012, their first move was to take over the national radio and TV broadcaster. Thanks to new technology, traditional media such as radio stations and newspapers are no longer the only news outlets, and the number and type of news aninformation providers operating on the ground has increased.

Conflicts in Africa are also now assuming many different forms. No longer limited to battles between armies, they may take the form of lower-level or asymmetric conflicts pitting armed groups against more or less proper armies or against other armed groups. At the same time, the terrorist threat is increased by the way some groups with a political agenda use armed conflict for economic gain, as seen in the internecine wars for the control of mineral deposits in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

These problems impact the flow of news and information. Because of the dangers, journalists find it increasingly difficult to access the terrain of military operations. During France's Operation Serval in Mali, some reporters chose to travel with military convoys going to the front line into order not to leave the French military as the only source of information about this war. But this method nonetheless resulted in very partial coverage, froma single viewpoint, of events on the ground.

Armed conflict's new protagonists, especially terrorist groups, do not feel bound by the Geneva Conventions, which protect civilians, including journalists, during armed conflict. On the contrary, journalists become high-value targets in an "information war."

Somalia's Islamist militia Al-Shabaab, for example, has always targeted journalists as unwanted witnesses of its terrorist methods. With seven journalists killed in 2013, Somalia is Africa's deadliest country for media personnel. No fewer than 18 were killed in terrorist attacks in 2012.

The threat in Mogadishu is so great that some media went so far as to let their journalists live at their work place to avoid dangerous commutes. Can a terror campaign be presumed successful when journalists can no longer move about freely in search of information?

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Africa: Wars and Terrorist Threats Weaken Media Africa