[citation needed] While the first newspapers were founded in the 1950s, until the end of military rule in the early 1990s, print and broadcast media were limited to government controlled outlets.
[1] Since the re-installation of democracy in 1999, Nigerien media has been judged independent of central government control by international observers, although since the advent of the Tuareg rebellion of 2007-2009 Niger has seen harsh local and national restrictions on journalists.
[2] There are approximately 12 private French-language weekly or monthly newspapers, some of which are affiliated loosely with political parties, and most of which appeared with the formation of the Third Republic in the early 1990s.
Its news director, Moussa Kaka, was arrested by the government in 2007 for interviewing Tuareg rebel leaders and held awaiting trial for more than a year.
The independent sector radio networks are collectively estimated by CPRP officials to cover some 7.6 million people, or about 73% of the population (2005).
Aside from Nigerien radio stations, the BBC Hausa service is listened to on FM repeaters across wide parts of the country, particularly in the south, close to the border with Nigeria.
[10] Despite instances of arrest and detention of journalists, West African observers generally judge Nigerien press to be independent and lively in attacking the government.
Two local journalists were imprisoned in 2007 under charge of aiding the Tuareg insurgency in the north, and several radio stations have been closed.
The journalist Moussa Kaka was held over a year on charges stemming from a radio interview of Rebel leaders, before being provisionally released.
[13] Since the beginning of the 2007 Tuareg insurgency in the north, the CSC has closed a number of outlets, and pronounced blanket bans on coverage of certain topics in the media, and of reporting from the northern part of the nation.
[14] Specific stations have been suspended for the content of their coverage, the topics discussed in on air debates, or simply for reporting on the conflict in the north.
[18] Dounia, the only non-governmental Nigerien Television News station, has been accused of giving air time to supporters Hama Amadou, an imprisoned ruling party rival of the President of Niger.
The High Council for Communication also maintains a fund which supports private broadcasters, although its payments are criticised as political and irregular.