Over the last year we have posted many stories about the improving situation of press freedoms in Morocco. For another view, here is an excerpt from an article by Bahia Amrani that was published in the Baltimore Sun.
Bahia Amrani is founder, editor and publisher of Le Reporter, a Moroccan independent newsweekly devoted to reporting and analyzing national and international affairs, politics, education, business and health issues. A link to the full article is at the end of this post.
The development of a free press in Morocco is an encouraging case study with the potential to serve as a model for other Muslim countries. The development of the free press did not occur overnight and continues to be a work in progress. As the founder and publisher of Le Reporter, an independent weekly newsmagazine in Morocco, I have witnessed firsthand the marked change in the attitude of the Moroccan government toward the media.
Only 10 years ago, I had to contend with government censors and agents who would literally park themselves in our offices to monitor magazine content. Beginning with the ascent of King Mohammed VI to the throne in 1999, a new relationship emerged between the government and the media. Not only were distrust and skepticism replaced by mutual respect and support, but the media became the vehicle for a mass reform movement in Morocco, a movement enthusiastically endorsed by the king.
It was this message that I set out to impart to my American media colleagues. Too often, Americans brush the entire Muslim world with the same stroke. To take one example, although Islamic extremism continues to be a scourge to the entire Muslim world, the way Morocco grapples with the problem is far different from the approach taken by many other Muslim countries.
Americans might be startled to learn that the Moroccan government has a zero-tolerance policy for Islamic extremism and has contributed in substantive ways to the world's war against terrorism. Recent government policies have focused on creating better educational opportunities and stamping out illiteracy among disadvantaged youth, a demographic that is most vulnerable to the seduction of extremists. The media pushed for these reforms, and the government, to its credit, enacted the necessary policies.
Full story: Baltimore Sun
Bahia Amrani's email: bahia.amrani@gmail.com.
Tags: Morocco Fes, Maghreb news
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