Recently a long time resident in Fez expressed the thought that maybe what was needed to slow down the crazy escalation of house prices in Fez was for a rest from all the media attention that has been concentrating on the Medina in the last 18 months. While this may sound like a sensible notion - it is not going to happen. As a long time member of the media I can tell you that the press does not work like that. Once the spotlight is turned on it stays on until a new subject captures the media's attention.
At the moment Morocco is a popular choice for media stories. Take for example the fuss over a tunnel between Spain and Morocco. This story has been around for some years now and while there is little new in it, the same information gets recycled on a regular basis. Just this week two media outlets ran with it again as though it was something new.
In newsrooms and editorial meetings around the world editors and chiefs of staff are ordering their reporters out to find new angles on Fez. The last couple of months has seen at least two advance parties for film crews, scouting the Medina, looking for locations and subject matter. One British crew is returning shortly to do a cooking programme and another a restoration documentary. The result will be another spike in the large number of Brits heading in this direction.
Even the increasingly tabloid Times property section, who should know a little better, are into recycling Fez stories and once again brought out a property piece that tried and failed to sound like it was covering new material. They quoted all the usual suspects including Brian Smith from Fes Properties who repeated the mantra of all real estate firms in Fez, "Ninety per cent of our business is British people but we’ve seen French, Russian and Canadians – many properties have doubled in price over the past year."
And spare a thought for our mates Jenny and Jon who have become the target of the media wanting a quick Fez fix. Instead of the media hunting out a range of new and interesting characters, they return time and again to the "usual suspects". Not only is this lazy journalism, but it ends up giving a shallow impression of what is happening in the Medina.
“We thought it would be a nice little project for a year,” says 24-year-old Jenny, who took on the house with her partner Jon, 23, after her parents, Jim and Kay, decided to invest in a property there. “And it turns out we’re pretty good at restoring homes,” she adds confidently.
Now any reporter worth their salt could have discovered far more interesting things by having a real conversation with Jenny and Jon whose insights and anecdotes would make fascinating reading - but instead go for the quick quote. Such journalism also does little to explore the wonderful complexities of life in the Medina. Once again the media needs a reminder that the Fez Medina is not just a property opportunity. It is a wonderful living and breathing city - unique in the world - and they should treat it with a little more respect.
Tags: Moroccan Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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