Moroccan Newspapers in English, French and Arabic

Newspapers in Morocco are primarily published in Arabic and French, and to a lesser extent in Amazigh (Berber), English, and Spanish.  Africa Liberal, a Spanish daily, was the first paper published in the country and was launched in 1820, followed by El Eco de Tetuán founded in 1860  also in Spanish. Al Maghrib was the first Arabic newspaper of the country and was established in 1886.  

The government of Morocco owns many key media outlets, including Moroccan radio and television, and the Moroccan press agency, Maghreb Arab Press.

Moroccans have access to approximately 2,000 domestic and foreign publications. Many of the major dailies and weeklies can now be accessed on their own Web sites. Morocco has 27 AM radio stations, 25 FM radio stations, 6 shortwave stations, and 11 television stations including the channels of the public SNRT, the mixed-ownership (half public-half private) 2M TV and the privately owned Medi 1 TV.

In 1999, the number of French language newspapers distributed in the country was 130,000 while it was 62,000 in 1981. As of 2013, 71% of the papers were published in Arabic and 27% in French.

Actualités Maroc (Oujda) [In Arabic]
Ahdath Maghribiya (Casablanca)
Al-Alam
Aljamaa
Aljarida24 (Casablanca)
Al Khabar (Marrakech)
Alittihad Ichtiraki (Casablanca)
Al Mountakhab
Al Obor
Alyoum24
Amazigh World News (Amazigh/Berber)
Assabah (Casablanca)
Assahra Al Maghribia (Casablanca)
Aujourd´hui Le Maroc
Bladibella (Casablanca) [In Italian]
Cawalisse Alyoum (Rabat)
Emarrakech.info (Marrakech)
Fes Press
Hesleaks
Hespress (Rabat)
Hiba Press
Khbirate
Le360
L'Economiste
L'écopress (Oujda) [In French]
L'Opinion
La Gazette du Maroc (Casablanca)
La Nouvelle Tribune [In French]
La Vie Éco
Le Journal de Tanger (Tangier)
Lemag [In French & English]
Le Matin
Les Journaux (Casablanca) [In French & Arabic]
Les Journaux Marocain (Tanger) [In Arabic, French & English]
Libération [In French]
Maghreb Arabe Presse [In Arabic, French & English available]
Maghreb Daily News [In English]
Maroc Hebdo International
Marocpress.ma (Casablanca) [In Arabic]
Medias24 (Casablanca)
Meknescity (Meknes)
Menara [In Arabic]
Maroc Telegraph [In Arabic]
The Moroccan Times [In English]
Morocco Media [In English]
Morocco Newsline [In English]
Morocco Today [In English]
Morocco World News [In English]
NTA Newstime [In English]
Oujda Portail (Oujda)
Rue20.com (Rabat)
Tawiza (Amazigh/Berber)
Tel Quel [French]
World Folio
Zagora Press

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Beyond Bizarre - An Attempt to Ban Reading Newspapers in Public

News that the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Editors (FMEJ) have called for the banning the free reading of newspapers in public spaces has been greeted with a mixture of derision and disbelief

What worries this very small group of editors is the fact that Moroccans share their newspapers. The FMEJ had previously presented a report to Mustapha El Khalfi, Morocco’s Minister of Communication, on the print media in Morocco. The media “has lost approximately $150 million per year due to the population’s access to newspapers that are left behind in public places,” the report said.

Even more astonishing than the Kafkaesque idea of banning reading a discarded newspaper in a coffee shop, is the fact that the Minister appears to have taken this surreal suggestion seriously. After a meeting with the FMEJ on May 24 the Ministry decided to ban the free reading of newspapers in public spaces.

“Newspaper editors are undergoing a crisis and we need to limit the damage. According to the FMEJ report, each newspaper copy is read by an average of five people,” Minister El Khalfi said in an interview with Huffington Post Maghreb.

Moroccans were gobsmacked and reaction on social media has been universally condemning of the idea. Many focused on the impossibility of enforcement.

"Will this mean creating a special uniformed Newspaper Police to arrest, detain 'illegal' readers and seize the offending newspapers - perhaps to be burned in the public square?"

Bringing a dose of reality to the debate the international auditing company KPMG reports that, “readers of written press constitute merely 1 percent of the Moroccan population.” This translates to no more than roughly 330,000 Moroccans out of a total population of about 33 million.

KPMG also explained that the problem is rooted in “various socio-economical factors including Morocco’s low literacy rate and the low and ineffective distribution of newspapers.”

According to a report carried by Morocco World News, the editors are asking for more money for carrying government advertising and for inclusion in negotiations scheduled with Google and Facebook concerning the alleged unfair position of the Moroccan online press in terms of online advertisements.

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Sensationalism and Inaccuracy in Reporting Damages Morocco

Reporting of the recent atrocities in France has had an unfortunate side consequence for Morocco. Time and again the suspects were named as being French or Belgian - "of Moroccan origin". The result is the perception that somehow Moroccans were involved. 

To be clear, a Belgian or French national, is French or Belgian, no matter where their mother, father or grandfather was born.

According to Moroccan websites and social media, Moroccans reject any connection with the terrorists and like almost every other nationality has been showing strong solidarity with the people of Paris.

"Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Moroccan who was behind the attacks in Paris"  - a review article entitled published in the online journal Le 360 

The most obvious case in point is that of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged sponsor of the attacks on November 13. Almost every news outlet, including some in Morocco, stressed that he had Moroccan parents. The information spread like wildfire in Morocco, relayed by the national media and social networks, provoking a wide variety of angry reactions.

"In my opinion, it is not authentic to label Abaaoud as Moroccan as he is a Belgian. I have nothing against dual nationality, quite the contrary,  but he grew up in Belgium. He speaks Arabic very badly, he knows nothing of Morocco," says Alioua Mehdi, a sociologist and lecturer at the International University in Rabat.

It raises the interesting question as to why Morocco is seen in such negative light.  Supposedly it enhances the news value of a story to label a terrorist as "Moroccan", when he patently has only an ancestral connection with the Kingdom. It is irresponsible and lazy journalism.

Following the Paris and Tunis attacks Moroccan tourism has taken a hit with local tourism professionals telling The View From Fez that tourist numbers have dropped dramatically.

Morocco has also caused anger in the ranks of daech (ISIL) by its assistance to French and Belgian security agencies. The group posted threats to Morocco on social media including  "to annihilate soldiers, blow up palaces and destroy the economy".  In response Morocco is on high alert.

Arabic daily Al Massae reports that Morocco's civilian security forces (police) and military (Royal Gendarmerie and the Auxiliary Forces) and its intelligence services are on high alert. The State Security Intelligence Unit, the DGSN has cancelled police leave and significantly increase the degree of vigilance at borders, airports and ports to to prevent terrorists entering the country.

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Press Freedom in Morocco ~ An Important Step Forward

Morocco is currently debating a new press code meant to reinforce press freedom throughout the Kingdom. The draft code, presented last month by Minister of Communications Mustapha El Khalfi, lays out a bold reform plan that, when passed, should mark a big advancement for press freedom in Morocco

Communications Minister Mustapha El Khalifi

Caitlin Dearing Scott, writing for All Africa.com, reports that the draft code centres on strengthening the guarantees of freedom and the independence of journalists and press institutions; protecting the rights and freedom of individuals and society; making the judiciary the exclusive authority in all press cases and strengthening its role in the protection of freedom of the press; and defining the rights and freedoms of journalists.

Notably, the code proposes:

Guaranteeing the right to access information;

Guaranteeing strict legal safeguards to protect journalists from attacks;

Establishing a mechanism to mediate disputes in the press through the National Council for the Press, which will include representatives of civil society'

Adopting judicial protection of confidentiality of sources;

Removing prison sentences for journalists and replacing them with moderate fines; and

Eliminating the suspension or prohibition of publications without the approval of the court.

The code also includes a section on promoting rights and freedoms for online media, a sign of its intent to respond to changing realities in the Moroccan media.

The project to update the press code is the result of broad consultations that began in 2012 among the government, professional journalist organizations, unions, media representatives, and the National Council for Human Rights.

It reflects Morocco's domestic and international commitments with regard to human rights and freedom of the press, as well as: the 2011 constitution; high royal directives; the government's program; the National Action Plan on democracy and human rights; the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER); and the recommendations of the White Paper on the national debate "Media and Society."

The code was drafted by a Committee in consultation with union and media representatives, notably the National Union of the Moroccan Press (NMFS), and the Federation of Moroccan Newspaper Editors (FMEJ), and is now being considered through a national dialogue conducted by the General Secretariat of the Government.

Following the conclusion of the national dialogue later this month, the draft will be submitted to the Council of Government, then to the two chambers of Parliament. It remains to be seen what changes will result from this collaborative effort, but the draft code looks like an important step for Morocco's ongoing liberalization and democracy-building efforts.


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A New Player In Morocco's English Language Media

"There is a huge need for an English news source from Morocco, but mostly, there is a need for an international knowledge of Morocco" - Othman El Oumeir, president of Group Maroc Soir

Over the years The View from Fez has supported the call for more English language media in Morocco. Since we began in 2005 a number of online or print publications have started up and eventually fallen by the wayside. Now there is another brave player entering the scene.  

According to their publicity release, the news website Morocco Mirror was launched by a group of Moroccan anglophone journalists dedicated to writing about and covering mainly political, economic, social and sports events.

The history of English language media in Morocco is not a happy one as journalist Zakaria Rmidi reported back in 2009. The first attempt in print was in 1877, when a weekly newspaper written in the English language was launched in Morocco under the name of Maghreb Al Aksa.

Regular readers of The View from Fez will remember the rise and fall of The Casablanca Analyst. Touted as an independent weekly newspaper, it used to appear irregularly. The Casablanca Analyst launched its first issue in May 2007, and the last one to appear was the fifth issue, in May 2008. That is to say, five issues during one year. During that time The Casablanca Analyst wrote well on several serious issues, such as that of the Western Sahara conflict and the occupied Moroccan enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. This was in addition to tackling many other interesting topics in business, society and culture as well as showing a great interest in literature.

Before The Casablanca Analyst, there was already an English language newspaper in Morocco on the internet. The Morocco Times was started on November 22, 2004 as an internet based newspaper. The Morocco Times was under the ownership of Group Maroc Soir; one of the major publishing houses which owns several newspapers and online titles in Morocco. Unfortunately, The Morocco Times ceased publication at the end of October 2006, a few weeks before its second birthday. The reason behind this decision is still unknown. Group Maroc Soir is a strong publishing house which owns official and semi-official organs of the government, notably the pioneer French daily Le Matin and the Arabic title Assahraa Al Maghribia.

The new kid on the block, Morocco Mirror, claims that it was launched to fill the gap left by the closure of The Morocco Times and to compensate for the lack of professional Moroccan-English newspapers either online or printed.  In fact, a search of the internet shows that there are many professional players in the media market and in the social media sector.  Some are based in Morocco, while others are overseas with reporters in Morocco. Major players include the widely read Morocco World News,  and the Morocco News Board.

Covering the entire Maghreb are online publications such  as Magharebia . This is an AFRICOM sponsored online news web site dedicated to coverage of North Africa. Online since Oct 2004, it is the only regional website that publishes identical content in three languages; Arabic, English and French. Magharebia allows visitors to comment on its articles and translates visitor contributed comments into Arabic, English and French.

Surprisingly Morocco Times is not extinct - journalist Zakaria Rmidi still runs a blog by that name, although publishes intermittently. Another site, Morocco Newsline appears not to have published since May this year.

A more impressive online site is Yacout Info which has a fresher appearance and offers more original content.

Hardly none of those e-newspapers available, apart from the website of State press agency (MAP), report from inside Morocco. Actually, at present, Morocco Mirror is the only Morocco-based English Daily.- Morocco Mirror Press Release

The Morocco Mirror claim to be the only English daily is bold. The biggest problem they have is that their content is the usual  mix of AFP, AP and MAP stories with, unfortunately, very little original content. A quick check of their Opinion section shows only one story (published in September), which was written by Michael J Totten and previously published in the American World Affairs site. The Interview section has only two stories, both of which are from other sources - yabiladi.com and the Vancouver Observer. What is more disturbing is that, although credit is given to other sites, there are no links to the source of the material.

According to the press release, the Morocco Mirror team "constitutes of highly qualified journalists and translators who enjoy a long experience in this field. Some of them used to work with Morocco Times. They are scattered in different Moroccan cities to guarantee a broad coverage of events. The majority are based in Casablanca and Agadir."

The team at The View from Fez welcomes Morocco Mirror and wishes them well. We will be following their progress with interest. You will find them here: MOROCCO MIRROR

Editor's note: The View from Fez started in 2005 and has just passed 2,000,000 page views.

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Fès Festival Opening Delayed by Half Hour

Tonight's opening spectacular - the tribute to Omar Khayyam - has been delayed by half an hour. No official reason was given at this morning's press conference, but insiders suggest it is to do with the lighting the time of the sunset. It is predicted that the slightly later start will make the visual effect much better. The Fès Festival of World Sacred Music will begin at 9pm rather than 8.30 pm.

The press conference, held at the Zalagh Park Palais, was attended by print, radio, television and electronic media representatives from Europe, the UK, Morocco, the USA and Australia. Journalist took advantage of their first opportunity to quiz opening night director, Tony Gaitlif and Festival Artistic director Alain Webber, about what the audience can expect this evening. The answers were all positive and the mood upbeat.

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Morocco's Public Media Debate - Continues

The Moroccan government's announcement that it would issue new public media guidelines at the end of May has reignited a stormy debate around independent media in the kingdom.

The debate began nearly two months ago when the Islamist government, led by Abdelilah Benkirane, forced public television channels and radio stations to broadcast the five daily calls to prayer, which put many citizens on the defensive against what they saw as a deliberate attempt to Islamise an otherwise moderate sector of society.

The new law was supposedly imposed in an effort to decrease the prevalence of the French language in favour of Arabic, though experts and activists were quick to point out that the government did not pay nearly as much attention to broadcasting Amazigh, the original language of the country, over the airwaves.

For years, the 6th public television channel, as well as the public radio station 'Mohammed VI for Saint Koran', have been completely dedicated to religious issues 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Following his ascension to the throne in 1999, King Mohamed VI jumped headlong into this debate by announcing his "project of the modernist and democratic society", supposedly aimed at curbing the presence of extremist Islam in the public realm.

The King, who approved a new constitution on July 1 last year that grants the monarch substantial powers of arbitration, has come under fire for dishing out an inadequate response to the complicated debate.

Last month, his new head of government, Benkirane, of the Justice and Development Party (PJD), declared that the old, 'Islamised' guidelines were not set in stone and could be amended. The controversial law was scrapped, sparking scattered debate around the complicated issue of media in Morocco.

'Islamisation' a hurdle to democracy?

Fayçal Laâraichi, director of the country's national broadcasting corporation, SNRT, told the daily 'Al Ahdath Al Maghribia' newspaper last month, "The independence of the public media is sacred."

Laâraichi warned that the new manuals have to respect "openness, pluralism, linguistic diversity and the national identity", all enshrined in the country's constitution.

But his reaction has been criticised as having its own agenda.

"There are (some professionals) who stereotype Islamists as a threat to openness and modernity," Ismail Azzam, a columnist for the local Hespress magazine, told IPS.

Moulay Touhami Bahtat, editor-in-chief of the local 'Assdae' ('Echoes') publication, believes, "Saying that the Islamists use the public media to Islamise (our) society reveals a blatant ignorance of the (situation)."

According to him, "The reality is that the public media was always an island completely separated from its environment, whose (practitioners) continue to act as if satellite dishes do not exist."

Citizens have long lamented the poor quality of programmes on public TV, while management of the public media has been under close scrutiny since "official reports from the Supreme Court indicated very grave financial gaps (in the media's accounts). The people in charge of the public media not only have to leave, but must be judged" on the issue of corruption, Azzam said.

The real fight, according to him, is not between Islamists and modernists, but between good governance and mismanagement. "Even if there were a leftist government, the opponents of the reform would have accused it of secularising the public media," he explained. Abdessalam Benaissa, a prominent writer, commented in Hespress last month, "the suspension of the manuals (by Benkirane) without so much as informing citizens means that the first experience within the framework of the new constitution, namely the right of citizens to information, has just been violated."

He is not alone in this critique. "The intervention of the palace in the affair of the media manuals was expected because we are not still at the stage of a parliamentary monarchy," Azzam commented, referring to the core demand of the February 20th movement, for a separation of powers between the monarch and the government.

Benkirane, who was then the leader of the Islamist opposition, opposed the movement and stubbornly defended executive powers for the monarch.

"The head of the government shows courage only against unemployed graduates," commented Azzam ironically, hinting at the violent police interventions against demonstrations by unemployed youth.

According to him, Benkirane benefits greatly from the current political order, in which the monarch retains several executive powers and Benkirane himself has a great deal of authority.

Mohammed Nabil Benabdellah

A governmental committee, chaired by the minister of housing and former minister of communications, Mohammed Nabil Benabdellah, is now in charge of establishing new media guidelines, which will be released no later than the end of this month.

The government is bound by law to establishes media guidelines and subject them to the High Authority of Communications and the Audiovisual sector (HACA), which ratifies the new rules before making them public on an official bulletin board.

Though the new guidelines have already been ratified, Fatiha Aarour, a HACA representative, told IPS, "Professional secrecy forbids us from speaking to the press about this issue."

Originally posted in AllAfrica.com

Several Moroccan commercials have lately come on fire for undermining social and family relations by inciting wives against their husbands and ridiculing the mothers-in-law.

According to a report on Al Arabiya News, several private radio stations, TV channels, and websites have been broadcasting commercials perceived by many as violating social norms in order to promote the advertised product.

Some commercial advice women to be harsh with their husbands while others portray the mother-in-law as an intruder who needs to be gotten rid of for the sake of the family’s peace of mind.

This has prompted many activists to launch pages on social networking website Facebook to express their anger at commercials that “insult men” by telling women to mistreat them if they want to “live in peace.”

The campaign against the commercials aims to call upon the relevant authorities to be firm with companies that produce them and the media outlets that communicate them to the public due to their negative effect on Moroccan society, especially the uneducated people, said Monsef Farouhi, the admin of one of the Facebook pages.

“Those commercials usually address uneducated women who follow the advice without thinking. This affects their behavior and their relationship with their husbands,” he told Al Arabiya.

An official at the Higher Authority of Audiovisual Communication, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the authority, which is in charge of monitoring the performance of audio and visual media, will not hesitate to take firm action against any media outlet that violates the principles of Moroccan society.

“However, we have not yet made a decision about the commercials that have caused this controversy,” he told Al Arabiya.

The reason for the prevalence of such commercials, the source explained, is that some channels or websites take advantage of the amount of freedom available to the media in Morocco to broadcast material that contradict the socially established laws of the conservative Moroccan society.

“These bodies only care about financial gains and do not pay attention to the negative social or ethical impact.”

The controversial content, he added, is not necessarily presented in an indirect way.

“Some commercials undermine social values in a subtle way in order to promote the product or service they are offering.”

(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid)

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The Tussle For Control of Moroccan Media Heats Up

Communications Minister Mustapha El Khalfi, has made the banning of gambling advertisements on television a key theme of his project to reform the audiovisual sector. However, after intervention from HM King Mohammed, the regressive measures are in doubt. The new measures were due to take effect as of May 1 but in light of protests, including from within the government, their implementation has been indefinitely postponed.

Mustapha Khalifi - under fire

Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi has been under fire for new guidelines for public broadcasters include which also include measures such as mandating the broadcast of the call to prayer five times a day.

In another controversial section the detailed guidelines also call for reducing the amount of French on public television and including programs about youth and social issues that must include a mufti, or Muslim cleric.

"These channels are performing a public service and so they must submit to certain minimum requirements," Khalifi told L'Economiste.

However, as The View From Fez reported earlier, the furor over the guidelines' religious aspects has grown over the last few weeks as the heads of the normally docile public TV stations have publicly criticised the measures as a threat to their independence.

Observers say the controversy is also about a newly elected government attempting to assert itself against the palace that has traditionally controlled the media. Sports Minister Mohamed Ouzzine, who is also head of the board of governors of the Moroccan gaming and sports council, criticised Khalfi's approach, arguing that he is a "minister of communication and not a mufti or a (theologian) who bans and authorises."

The news director for Channel 2M said the guidelines represent "a will to kill the programming on Channel Two. This is not a license agreement. It is a programming list, and logic and our profession says that politics should not dictate TV programing," Samira Sitail told the daily Al-Ahdath Al-Maghrebiya.

The head of public broadcasting, Faisal Laraachi, said: "Our editorial independence is sacred."

Now the broadcasters have received help form Morocco's King Mohammed VI. On Friday the HM King sacked the president of the country's top broadcasting panel, Mohammed Ghazali.

Amina Lamrini El Ouahabi

"Mrs Amina Lamrini El Ouahabi has been named" head of the Superior Council for Audiovisual Communication (CSCA) in place of Mohammed Ghazali, MAP said. The CSCA is a body that forms part of the High Authority for Communications and the Audiovisual sector (HACA).

The new appointment comes amid clashes over the adoption by the HACA on March 31 of new measures which included calling on the two public television stations to broadcast the five Islamic calls to prayer, banning advertising for gambling games, proposing a new schedule for programmes in French and a change of time for the evening news.

Several Moroccan papers on Friday said in editorials that Ghazali was paying for the new measures with his head.


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Media Freedom in Morocco Takes a Backward Step.

“Islamist ministers are having trouble casting off their religious clothes and dealing with their ministerial jobs” 

That statement from a Moroccan news website was in response to the rather foolish comments by a newly elected Moroccan Justice Minister, Mustafa Ramid, who upset almost everybody by claiming tourists went to Marrakech in order to sin. Now another minister has created an unholy row by attempting to make public TV and Radio stations more religious. It is unfortunate to have come at a time when the media in Morocco are seeking greater press freedom. Ibn Warraq reports.

Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi

"Khalfi is the minister of communications and a government official, not an imam or a mufti to say what is licit or illicit," Mohammed Ouzzine, Minister of Sport

Somehow it has escaped the Communications Minister Mustapha Khalfi from the newly elected moderate Islamist party that he is a servant of the people and not an imam.  His new guidelines for public broadcasters include petty measures such as banning lottery advertisements and mandating the broadcast of the call to prayer five times a day.

In another controversial section the detailed guidelines also call for reducing the amount of French on public television and including programs about youth and social issues that must include a mufti, or Muslim cleric.

"These channels are performing a public service and so they must submit to certain minimum requirements," Khalifi told L'Economiste daily last Thursday.

The state channels previously had little overtly religious programming.

The furor over the guidelines' religious aspects has grown over the last few weeks as the heads of the normally docile public TV stations have publicly criticized the measures as a threat to their independence.

Observers say the controversy is also about a newly elected government attempting to assert itself against the all-powerful palace and king that have traditionally controlled the media.

In an interview on Friday, the news director for Channel 2M said the guidelines represent "a will to kill the programming on Channel Two. This is not a license agreement. It is a programing list, and logic and our profession says that politics should not dictate TV programing," Samira Sitail told the daily Al-Ahdath Al-Maghrebiya.

The head of public broadcasting, Faisal Laraachi, said: "Our editorial independence is sacred."

Members of Khalfi's own Justice and Development Party have fired back, with one parliamentarian threatening street demonstrations against the heads of state media, if the measures aren't adopted.
"These figures fighting against our party are the same ones resisting reform," Abdallah Bouanou told the daily Akhbar al-Maghrebiya.

The influential Morocco World News is reporting that Abdelilalh Benkirane, head of the government, is believed to be heading towards dismissing both Samira Sitail, head of the news department of 2M channel, as well as Salim Sheikh, director of the channel.

PM Abdelilah Benkirane and Samira Sitail head of news at 2M-TV

Backed by constitutional amendments that give the government greater powers, the Islamist-led government has been flexing its muscles. Yet, if PM Benkirane does not bring a little more common sense to his ministers' proclamations, he may find he is leading a one-term government. Or, in the short term may even forfeit its majority, because, while the Islamists are the dominant party in the coalition, it shares power with three other parties.

Many of these coalition partners are uneasy with the Islamist party's reform efforts and a number of ministers have been vocally critical of the media guidelines.  Nabil Benabdellah, the minister of housing and former communications minister from the left-wing Party of Progress and Socialism, even threatened to quit the government over the guidelines before backing down in a later radio interview.

There is also opposition to the guidelines from the public who who fear the Islamization of the media. At a time when the Arab Spring could have headed to a glorious Arab Summer, these developments could be an indication of an early and unpleasant Autumn. 

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Morocco - 5th Most Active Twitter User in Africa

In a follow-up to our look at mobile phone use in Morocco, we are in debt to the "Notebook", the blog run by Portland for a look at Twitter.  Portland is an independent consultancy involved in strategic communications, public affairs, international affairs and digital research.

In their latest research Portland embarked on an attempt to comprehensively map the use of Twitter in Africa. Portland and Tweetminster analysed over 11.5 million geo-located Tweets originating on the continent during the last three months of 2011. This pan-African analysis of Twitter traffic was complemented by a survey of 500 of Africa’s most active Tweeters.
And the result? It is young people, not leaders or business people Tweeting from mobile devices that are driving the growth of Twitter in Africa.

 The top twitter uses in order are South Africa (5,030,226), Kenya (2,476,800), Nigeria (1,646,212), Egypt (1,214,062) and Morocco (745,620).

To view a larger image - open image in a new tab and click to increase size

Interestingly, 68% percent of those surveyed say they use Twitter to monitor news. 2% use it to search for employment opportunities.

Mark Flanagan, Portland’s Partner for Digital Communications, says: “One of the more surprising findings of this research is that more public figures have not joined Africa’s burgeoning Twittersphere. With some notable exceptions, we found that business and political leaders were largely absent from the debates playing out on Twitter across the continent. As Twitter lifts off in Africa, governments, businesses and development agencies can really no longer afford to stay out of a new space where dialogue will increasingly be taking place.”

How Africa Tweets found that Twitter is helping to form new links within Africa. The majority of those surveyed said that at least half of the Twitter accounts they follow are based on the continent.

Beatrice Karanja, Associate Director and head of Portland Nairobi, says: “We saw the pivotal role of Twitter in the events in North Africa last year, but it is clear that Africa’s Twitter revolution is really just beginning. Twitter is helping Africa and Africans to connect in new ways and swap information and views. And for Africa – as for the rest of the world – that can only be good.”

You can find out more about the Portland research here (PDF):  Portland - How Africa Tweets

The View from Fez is an active Twitter user. We send out links to our stories and also use Twitter to gather news. To date we have tweeted 1656 stories. You can follow us here: The View from Fez Twitter


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Western Media Coverage of Islam and Muslims

The portrayal of Muslim peoples and culture in the non-Muslim media has long been problematic. Whereas exclusion from mainstream media is common, where coverage does exist it often perpetuates negative stereotypes and presents Muslim culture in a critical manner. Yacine Houhoud Tamsamani, writing for Morocco World News, examines the  problem. 

The important role that the mass media are playing not only in keeping people informed, but also in shaping public attitudes about political and social issues is well recognised. Broadcasting has a crucial role in shaping how majorities, by and large, think about minorities. The latter have been often portrayed by the media in negative stereotypes. The image of Islam and Muslim minorities has been among those depicted in a negative way especially since past 9/11. This has crucial and significant implications because it addresses a controversial issue, which is the view of non-Muslims in relation to Muslim communities.

Many studies have addressed the fact that representation of Islam and Muslim views are almost absent from the media. A case in point is that of British Muslims, whose representativeness is very low. According to Byrne (2008), only 11% of the British Muslim population are represented in the media. He adds that the media’s usage of few individuals and organisations does not do justice to the complete spectrum of views held by British Muslims and the ethnic diversity of Muslims in Britain. In other words, all British Muslims from different ethnic backgrounds should be given opportunities to express their opinions, otherwise this exclusion, according to Byrne, might not be helpful for British society.

Likewise, Richardson (2001)[1] commented “Muslim communities are almost excluded. However, when they do appear, they are included only as participants in news events, not as providers of informed commentary in news events; and therefore, that the issue and concerns of the communities are not being served by the agenda of the broadsheet press.” These findings of his analysis of representations of Islam and Muslims focused on British broadsheet newspapers. This includes Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, Daily Telegraph, The Times, and two British broadsheet Sunday newspapers; Sunday Independent, Sunday Times.

Hollywood films in other areas have also been made. Shaheen, a professor of mass communication at southern Illinois University and the author of Reel Bad Arabs [2] devoted much of his work to the subject of Arab representations in the media. In the post 9/11 era, he gives a better understanding about Arab stereotypes perpetrated in the media. He surveyed over 900 films and found that very few depicted Arabs and Muslims leading normal and healthy lives (Shaheen, 2003).

However, not all representations of Arabs and Muslims named in the media are negative. There are many prominent Arabs who could be recognised as positive role models. In an article entitled Demonising Arabs in the Movies? Exploring Islamophobia, Landes (2007) makes the point that Alexander in the film “Syriana” and Omar Sharif in “Lawrence of Arabia” are some examples of these positive Arab characters. There are also many organisations and institutions that work towards ensuring more accurate and positive representation of Arabs and Muslims. Hookers in some areas have represented positive stereotypes about Muslims. The ninety-nine, a new common book series in which the heroes are Muslims as can be seen in the negative representations of Islam and Muslims in the media (2008).

It is now abundantly clear that there is a number of increasing powers in covering, both in the print and the electronic media. It was Cottle (2006) [3] who argues that a powerful position for the media helps to represent group minorities either in positive or negative ways.

At present times, these positive representations are few and far between. It is very clear that much will remain to be done to promote fair representations of Arabs and Muslims. Representing Arabs and Muslims realistically in the media will benefit western societies on how to battle discrimination and racism. It will also increase self esteem and pride of Arabs and Muslims, and will encourage them to have more positive and healthy views of themselves.

---

NOTES

[1] Richardson, J. E. (2001) ‘British Muslims in the Broadsheet Press: A Challenge to Cultural Hegemony?’ Journalism Studies, Vol 2, No 2, 2001. 

[2] Shaheen, J. (2003) Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, Arris Books. 

[3] Cottle, S. (2006). Ethnic minorities and the media: changing cultural boundaries. [Media: ethnic minority’s Ethnic minorities]. Buckingham: Open University Press. [edited by Simon Cottle.]. 

This article first appeared in Morocco World News and is reposted with permission 

Yacine Houhoud Tamsamani is an MA student in philosophy, Arts and Media at Staffordshire University, in the United Kingdom. He holds a BA from Al-Qarawiyyin University, in Fez, Morocco. He is interested in traditional Arabic and Islamic Studies, as well as contemporary Islamic issues (Islam, Muslims, Multiculturalism, Justice, terrorism).

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Travel Writers Beware ~ a cautionary tale from Morocco

It is standard practise for reviewers to not reveal to a restaurant or hotel that they are doing a review. To do so negates the purpose of seeing the business as the clients they are writing for would. It is considered unethical - even more so if the motivation is to get a free meal, service or accommodation.

If a reviewer is a well known identity, then they often book under an assumed name and there are cases where they have even adopted disguises so a business does not know they are being reviewed.

It is the same story for the publishers of the better travel guides. They have clear ethical guidlines.

"They (our authors) don't take freebies in exchange for positive coverage so you can be sure that the advice you're given is impartial" - Lonely Planet

We will leave it to you to imagine our reaction when we came across the following quote in an article by a person purporting to be a travel writer. To compound matters, the article was syndicated on the website of a major guidebook company - and one that has very high ethical standards.

We will not shame the writer by disclosing his identity. Here is what he wrote about a hotel in Morocco...

Breakfast (a simple one I was told) was 17 Euros per person – which is roughly triple what a great breakfast costs at the cafe down the street. Even when I told them I was doing a review for a third party, their reaction was stolid – which on one hand I admire, but on the other was just such incredibly mercenary bad business practice that I’m certain my jaw dropped. Frankly, if someone tells me they are reviewing me – I would at least offer to provide them with complimentary breakfast so they could write about it (and a complimentary dinner for that matter) but these guys – no way.

If reviewers all acted like this, then the public's faith in reviewers would be lost. With the current controversy over fake reviews on Trip Advisor it is even more important that would-be reviewers maintain the highest standards.

Meanwhile, deep in the Fez Medina...

A newspaper boy was standing on the corner of an alley near R'cif with a large pile of newspapers, shouting, "Read all about it. Twenty five people cheated. Twenty five people cheated."

Intrigued, Sidi Idriss walked over, bought a paper, and checked the front page.

What he saw was yesterday's paper.

Sidi Idriss said, "Hey, this is an old paper, where's the story about the big swindle?"

The newspaper boy ignored him and went on yelling out, "Read all about it. Twenty six people cheated."

The Fez Declaration on Media and Information Literacy

Back on June 15, The View from Fez reported that Fez was to host an international conference ~ 'women and new media in the Mediterranean'. Well, the conference has been held and after a period of time for reflection has posted its initiatives. Happily, we can report on some very positive outcomes.

The First International Forum on Media and Information Literacy (MIL) was organized through partnership among UNESCO, the Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (Morocco), the Islamic Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (ISESCO), the Arab Bureau of Education for the Golf States (ABEGS) and the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and other partners. It was held from 15 to 17 June 2011 in Fez, Morocco, under the auspices of His Majesty King Mohammed the Sixth.

This Forum was the first of its kind at the international level to examine media and information literacy as a combined set of competencies (knowledge, skills and attitudes). Issues relating to importance of media, Internet and other information providers and their impact on learning, cultures and public opinion, as well as the empowering effect of MIL practices and global Internet governance were among the main topics discussed at the Forum.

Over 200 participants representing all regions of the world, including educators, information and media experts, civil society actors and social scientists, gathered to discuss MIL and share experience and knowledge.

The Fez Declaration, fully endorses the far-reaching vision that today’s digital age and convergence of communication technologies necessitate the combination of media literacy and information literacy in order to achieve sustainable human development, build participatory civic societies, and contribute to the consolidation of sustainable world peace, freedom, democracy, good governance and the fostering of constructive intercultural knowledge, dialogue and mutual understanding.

They call on all stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to initiatives relating to MIL.

In connection with this event, the MIL Curriculum for Teachers launched at the Forum was translated into Arabic and French, and the Arab Region’s Consultation on Adaptation of the Curriculum was organized. Participating countries from the region included Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Morocco. A plan of action is being consolidated for piloting of the MIL Curriculum in teacher training institutions in Morocco, Lebanon and Oman. Discussion is on-going with other countries in the region.

In addition, the first International University Network on MIL and Intercultural Dialogue was launched through a partnership with the United Nations Alliance of Civilization. This will facilitate follow-up on the recommendations of the Forum and particularly the Fez Declaration on Media and Information Literacy. The Network on MIL and Intercultural Dialogue includes universities from Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Italy, Jamaica, Morocco and Spain.

Fez to host international conference ~ 'women and new media in the Mediterranean'

Between June 24-26 Fez will host an international conference on "women and new media in the Mediterranean," with the participation of experts and academics from over 20 countries. The meeting, held at the initiative of ISIS center for Women and Development, will examine gender issues and new media, as well as the relation between women, written languages and mother tongues.

Morocco's leading feminist academic, Fatima Sidiqi (pictured above) will play an important role at the conference. (Find out more here - Fatima Sidiqi )

The participants will also discuss "the growing impact of new media in the Mediterranean," "the virtual activism of young women in the Mediterranean: internet, facebook, and blogosphere," "languages, education and new media in the Mediterranean," and "the influence of new media on gender relations in Mediterranean societies."

A workshop on "new media and gender equality in Morocco" will also be held as part of the conference. It will gather several Moroccan and international civil society activists.

Maghreb Arab Press Founder Dies

The founder and first director of Morocco's MAP news agency, Mehdi Bennouna, died at the age of 92 early Tuesday in Rabat after a long illness, his family reported.



Mehdi Bennouna was buried on Tuesday evening in the northern city of Tetuan.

The late Benouna took up in 1958-1959 as advisor to the Late king Mohammed V in charge of the press and public relations.

He obtained a diploma in journalism from Egypt in 1941 and worked as journalist in the "Al Ahram" daily until 1944. During his stay in Cairo, he took part in setting up the Almaghreb Al Aqsa Defense Committee. He returned to Morocco in 1944 to work as a teacher, and participated in the creation of the workers’ trade union.
In the UN, he founded the liaison office of independence movements of North African countries (Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia).

In 1959, Mehdi Bennouna launched Morocco’s MAP news agency, which he headed till 1975.

HM King Mohammed VI sent a condolence message to the family of late Mehdi Bennouna and in his message expressed his heartfelt condolences and sincere compassion in this hard ordeal.

The death of late Mehdi Bennouna is a painful loss not only for his family, but also for his homeland Morocco, the sovereign underlined, lamenting the passing on of such pioneering activist of the national movement in the Kingdom.

M Bennouna devoted his life to the struggle for independence, emancipation and the recovery of national sovereignty and legitimacy, the monarch said.

The late Mehdi Bennouna selflessly endeavored to build the Morocco of unity, progress and democracy, under the reign of late kings Mohammed V and Hassan II, and set an example to follow in terms of loyalty and attachment to the nation's sacred values, HM the King said.

The View From Fez would like to extend its condolences to the family of Mehdi Bennouna.

Morocco squanders a golden opportunity

OPINION - by Ahmed Bennis

We Moroccans love our King. It is a genuine and widely held feeling and so when the French Le Monde polled the public on the 10th anniversary of H M Mohammed VI's coming to the throne, it was no surprise that the results were wildly supportive with a more than 91% approval rating. Those are figures that most governments can only dream of and such poll results would normally be a public relations coup for a government and something to celebrate.

Yet, in a bizarre move, the Communications Minister, Khalid Naciri, announced that the poll results were not to be published.

"Any publication, be it foreign or Moroccan, that publishes the poll will be banned. Monarchy cannot be the subject of opinion polls and those who practice this sport are aware of the consequences."

Subsequently Moroccan authorities banned two magazines from newsstands this weekend after they published the results of the poll.

The official MAP news agency said the independent weeklies, Tel Quel, a French-language publication, and Nichane, an Arabic-language magazine, were seized for failing to respect the 1958 press code.

What is disturbing and disappointing about this entire fiasco is not only the application of the outdated 1958 press code, but the minister's handling of the affair has turned what should have been a public relations dream into a nightmare.

Khalid Naciri's intervention and comments have echoed around the world and been picked up and made into an international story. From major newspapers, television and radio through to blogs and twitters, the story of the banning has damaged Morocco's reputation.

Bloggers quickly began a campaign against the banning of the magazines and with pointed wit called it "9.5%".

Hopefully sanity will prevail and the extraordinary popularity of the King will not be clouded by further inept handling of the media by an out of touch government.

Moroccan Press Protest with Blank Editorials.

Twenty Moroccan dailies and weeklies were released without editorial Friday in protest against the recent court decisions handed down against three Arabic newspapers and a monthly economic francophone magazine, convicted of defamation.


The daily Annahar El-Maghribiya, El-Jarida El-Oula, El-Mounaataf, Ettajdid, El-Ahdath El-Maghribiya, Akhbar El-Yaoum, El-Massae, Aujourd'hui le Maroc and Le Soir, and the weekly El-Ousbouâ, El-Ayam, El-Michaal, El-Hayat, Nichan, El Watan, Le Canard Libéré, Le Journal Hebdomadaire and Tel Quel came out on Friday without editorial.

The dailies will repeat the operation today.

Three Moroccan independent newspapers accused of “defamation” by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, were sentenced by a Moroccan court to pay three million Dirhams (270,000 Euros) in damages on 29 June

The three newspapers El-Jarida El-Oula, El-Ahdat El-Maghribia and El-Massae were prosecuted in separate folders for criticizing Muammar Gaddafi in press articles.

On 30 June, the monthly Business & Enterprise has been ordered to pay 5.9 million Dirhams (approx. 550,000 Euros) to a furniture company, Primarios, near the royal palace as part of a complaint for defamation.

The Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers (FMEJ) Tuesday strongly denounced a “judicial blind escalation which does not serve the state of law.”

According to the FMEJ, “the importance of fines required clearly shows that the objective is the bankruptcy of these press companies.”

In a statement, the FMEJ said it strongly condemned this judicial blind escalation which does not serve the state of law and also denounces the existence of a repressive and criminal policy which violates the freedom of expression.”


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