2026 elections in Benin: ODEM sounds the alarm and calls on journalists.
On the eve of Christmas celebrations and a few days before the official opening of the election campaigns, the Observatory for Deontology and Ethics in the Media (ODEM) invited, on December 24, 2025, media professionals to a press conference devoted to a central issue which is the journalist’s code of conduct in the context of the 2026 general elections.
SUMMARY
In front of the journalists, the Observatory recalled the unprecedented nature of the upcoming electoral event. For the first time in Benin’s democratic history, three elections will be held in the course of a single year, placing the media before a major historical responsibility. A responsibility all the heavier as the political and institutional context is marked by tensions, suspicions and attempts to challenge the democratic process.
According to the Observatory, this situation requires the media to uphold impeccable professionalism, grounded in strict respect for deontology and ethics. “The Beninese press is summoned by history,” the ODEM stressed, denouncing an era characterized by a moral crisis, a deterioration of public debate and a worrying rise in misinformation, especially on social media.
The Observatory also warned about growing difficulties faced by journalists in gathering information, namely reluctance of sources, refusals of interviews, a climate of fear and generalized anxiety. All these factors weaken the production of credible, verified and balanced information. “No nation can progress if the media languish in apathy, incompetence, and misery,” the ODEM stressed.
While recalling the responsibility of public authorities in guaranteeing a secure environment for the exercise of journalism, the Observatory emphasized the duties of media professionals themselves. The journalist, he reminded, lives neither on blackmail nor on fraud, and should not be the instrument of a political party, a government, or an economic-interest group.
To this end, the ODEM pointed to several missteps observed in the Beninese press: identical headlines reproducing the same faults, injurious or defamatory publications, lack of investigation in favor of simply reproducing official press releases. Practices clearly contrary to the Code of Deontology and Ethics of the Media (CDEM), which imposes fact-checking, accuracy of information, and respect for the journalist’s social responsibility.
Conscience Awakener
Regretting the progressive erasure of the great Beninese journalistic tradition embodied by emblematic figures of the past, the Observatory has called on professionals to reconnect with the demand, the courage and the dignity that underlie the nobility of the profession. The press, he insisted, must remain a conscience awakener, refuse any manipulation and never serve as a conduit for hatred, violence, or vengeance.
A special focus has been placed on online media, whose responsibility is heightened by the virality of digital information. The ODEM reminded that speed should not trump veracity, and that any erroneous information should be corrected immediately, in a transparent and visible way.
For the Observatory, the 2026 general elections constitute a decisive test for quality journalism in Benin. A test that the press must pass by giving voice to marginalized populations, defending the rights of minorities and embodying the values of fraternity, justice and work enshrined in the national motto.
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