Quote

« Jamais également, la demande d’informations renouvelées et de vérités immédiates, contraire à l’essence même du métier d’enquête du journaliste, n’a été aussi forte.»

Violence, Censorship and Freedom of Press: The Moroccan case (Part 4)

In comparison of the today’s situation with that prevailed at the beginning of 2000, it reveals some change considering the respect of the freedom, but this improvement still has its limits. In fact, the liberalization of the Moroccan media landscape in 2005 did lead to the flowering of several private radios, regulated by the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication (HACA). And the Moroccan press has undergone significant changes in terms of the diversity of their specialization and the growth of editorial teams. 

But Free and independent media have suffered - and still suffers from the advertising boycott. While the media near “Makhzen” benefit from the advertising revenue of the regime and its allies.  Published since 2006, with 20,000 copies sold, the magazine “Nichane” wasn’t censored but forced into bankruptcy. "This closure (...) is an updated and programmed slow death, it’s the result of an advertising boycott initiated including the first circle of power," said Ahmed Benchemsi, editor, in a statement. Crushed by debt, the Tel Quel group, the main shareholder of the magazine, decided to cease publication of the weekly.

For Mr. Ahmed Hidass, professor in ISIC and expert in Media Law, Freedom of Speech, and Media Regulation,” Electronic media are the media of the future because the business model of online media is less restrictive than the print media. Especially that it’s cheaper and more convenient for advertising.” But, for him, “Most of the Moroccan newsrooms are in door newsrooms that don’t usually employ special envoy and permanent/ foreign correspondent”. 

Moroccan media, all types include, are still mainstream media, even more there are only few local media. In fact, an auditing firm has made ​​a report to the Ministry of Communication about the progress of the situation of the freedom of the press. Among the obstacles regarding the printing press, it listed the distribution of newspapers in the territory that is still very limited. In fact, for the newspapers’ distribution networks, the firm listed as much as 1000 points of sale, including kiosks and small stores. Also, the professionalization of the sector recorded a very low level for all types of media companies. Furthermore, the loosing of reader’s interest in reading newspapers is also a significant obstacle. 

Last year, on January 18, a parliamentary accused of rape, sentenced in first instance to a year in prison, was acquitted on appeal while the victim was jailed for contempt of court. It lasts for three years; the trial was finally unnoticed until a blogger report the information and protests against this verdict. When there is no result in political or court scandals that are covered by the media, through the redundancy effect carried by a multitude of similar cases, it seems to be that the reader is disillusioned by the impunity of the person in charge. In fact, in Morocco, scandals do not rise to media coverage. It’s explains the fact that there's no renewed buying newspapers. But, talking about court cases, Mr. Hidass hinted at Anouzla’s case for explaining that “the media don’t have enough information to tell”.

Journalism is dead, long live Journalism !

Violence, Censorship and Freedom of Press: The Moroccan case (Part 2)

As Omar Radi, an independent Moroccan journalist who works as a freelance journalist said : “It’s true now with online media, journalist can express themselves freely but they don’t know what time they will be oppressed because there are no rules!”

For years, the official red lines in Morocco:  the monarchy, religion and, territorial integrity (The Sahara issue), repress the freedom of speech. But nowdays, for him, they’re other ways for repressing the journalists’ freedom of speech. When the defenders of press freedom pointed out that in Morocco there are many lawsuits against journalists, the government replied by an economical obstruct by putting pressure on the advertisers who finance the media economics. He explained that the threesome:  lawsuits, economy stifling, and closure of media companies are serving now as lesson to others journalists for never crossing those red lines.

“Censorship is less striking in these recent years. In fact, it’s the self-censorship who prevails.”, indicate Omar Radi talking about the main obstacle for a Free Press. For a long time, Omar was advocating for the freedom of speech and  human rights, that’s the reason why he decided to join the February 20 movement as well as for defending his ideals.  

For him, anti-democratic powers domesticate and / or repress the press as it can never play this role. He confides that “A Free Press is an important level for democratization of the country; it must dig into her past to understand the present and inform the society about how the public affairs are managed”. In most democracies, a Free Press is meant to be a counter-power and the role of the journalist is to question those whom are in power on the way they handle it. 

Free press is also considered to be a safeguard for democracy and freedoms. But for Jihane Salhi, a Moroccan radio journalist, who worked in “Aswat” before working for “Hit Radio” the “Freedom of press doesn’t exist in Morocco!” For her, the main reason that explains the fact that there’s no freedom of press is the non respect of the freedom of thought in the Moroccan society.” 

Although, the new Moroccan Constitution of 2011 "guarantees freedom of thought, opinion and expression in all its forms" (article 25), for her, it’s extremely rare to see journalists doing their job properly and completely without censoring themselves or before being confront to censorship.

In effect, the freedom of the press is very much related to the freedom of speech. But, it’s also related to the freedom of thought as long as the journalist has to be free for shaping his own opinions. She added: “The bosses who run a media usually have economic or financial interest in choosing the editorial line, especially when the majority of them don’t know what the real assignment of the journalist is”.

In fact, Jihane belongs to those journalists who haven’t been able to keep a fixed job.  She reveals that after an unfair dismissal, she chose to continue studying for having a master in economics and media management at ISIC. Through her ​​experience, she knows that journalists had a responsibility towards the society which they are addressing. But she noticed that editors fail in imposing ethics of journalism and above all journalists' rights are still being violated. 

As a matter of fact, her dismissal dates back to September 2012, when El Ghorfi, the manager of “Aswat” began to complain of lack of publicity and therefore less money. One month after, the manager decided to change the editorial line by opting for more entertainment and less information. Jihane and three other journalists who were in charge of news were laid off without receiving their severance pay.