The media battle of Algiers

Following weeks of protests in Algeria, cracks in the official media narrative show. Plus, the world of advertising.

The media battle of Algiers

State-controlled media often fill their airtime with images of their leader to remind citizens who is in power. But in Algeria, those images are few and far between.

This past week, when the country's President, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, withdrew his bid for a fifth term in office after three weeks of mass protests, the announcement did not come from Bouteflika himself because the 82-year old has been all but absent in national news since a stroke six years ago left him paralysed.

For news about the political uprising in the country's capital, Algiers, and beyond, Algerians have gone to social media where protesters have provided their own coverage.

Sky and Ground: A Syrian Family's Journey Across Borders

The Algerian is considered to be a national hero and symbol of the revolution that brought an end to French colonialism.

In 1962, Algeria proclaimed independence from France following eight years of war and over a century of colonial rule. Unlike the neighbouring protectorates of Tunisia or Morocco, Algeria was considered inalienable French territory, an extension of the mainland.

By the mid-20th century, over a million European settlers had the privilege of French citizenship in Algeria, while the Arab Muslim majority enjoyed few benefits from the French presence.

Exile In New Caledonia

The untold story of Algerians deported by France to the Pacific island in the 1870s and their descendants today.

Almost 150 years ago, after troops led by Sheikhs Al Mokrani and Al Haddad failed in their year-long resistence to French colonial rule in Algeria, France sent hundreds of Algerians to what was then a penal colony – the island of New Caledonia.

More than an estimated 2,000 Algerians who were considered "rebels" by the French were deported to the Pacific island in the last quarter of the 19th century. Journeying by sea – some dying after refusing to eat pork when their dates ran out – they were imprisoned in jails in New Caledonia.