House of Representatives Organizes Seminar on “National Media and Society: Future Challenges and Stakes”
The House of Representatives organized, on December 21-22, 2022, a seminar on "National Media and Society: Future Challenges and Stakes," on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the National Dialogue on Media and Society. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami chaired the Seminar that featured the participation of the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mr. Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, the chairpersons of the Parliamentary Groups and Caucus, institutional actors, and professionals of media and press.
In his address on the opening of the Seminar, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami covered the conclusions of one year of public debate on media, which culminated in more than 300 recommendations and several field studies related to media, particularly a sociological study on the expectations and interests of youth in relation to media.
The Speaker also added, “If we, today, face new contexts and challenges, we should still recall that media and press in the Kingdom of Morocco have played a decisive role in emancipating from the protectorate, constructing independence, consolidating the bases of a national and democratic State, and protecting pluralism. Regardless of the tough times our country went through, it had, at all these times, a free, critical, and pluralistic press that reflects the diverse, pluralistic, and unified nature of Moroccan society.”
Concerning the new developments in media, the Speaker stated that “the digital revolution increases the magnitude of these challenges, considering the opportunities it offers to publish news without any professional condition or restriction, to a level where we can describe the use of digital technologies in streaming news as chaos.”
The Speaker also tackled the problematic of misunderstanding between politicians and journalists. In this respect, he noted, “Politicians must be open to media, provide information and news that can be utilized, analyzed, and commented on, publish news proactively and willingly, and facilitate access to it by credible, renowned, and accredited sources. For their part, media actors must trust the news provided by institutions, institutional actors, and politicians and utilize it to benefit society and elevate the quality of the public debate.”
During the same Seminar, the Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication, Mr. Mohammed Mehdi Bensaid, took the floor and discussed the "importance of media in the life of citizens, particularly in the democratic construction." In this respect, he called for "revising the "Code of Press and Publishing, and the economic model of media enterprises, by supporting the human element." In the same context, the Minister added that the public subsidies have been increased from 36MDhs to 200MDhs, and noted, "We cannot have objective media without advancing the social conditions of the workers in the press sector."
For his part, the President of the National Press Council, Mr. Youness Moujahid, emphasized the strong will and active engagement of the legislative institution in this Dialogue that was launched in 2010 and involved the various actors in the sector of the press, and the relevant training and institutions, in order to agree on a roadmap for a media industry, and advance journalism within the framework of strong professional and ethical media enterprises and institutions. Hence, according to Mr. Moujahid, the recommendations covered the implementation of a Code of Press and Publishing that is commensurate with the evolution of the sector, the advancement of the professional and social conditions of journalists, the reinforcement of the self-organization through the creation of an independent body for press ethics in the law, as part of entrenching the Constitutional reform of 2011. Besides, the President of the National Press Council added, "Such change has culminated in a Code of Press and Publishing that stipulates the creation of the National Press Council, which contributes through its prerogatives to the amelioration of the media sphere regardless of the legal and regulatory obstacles."
The President of the National Union of Moroccan Press, Mr. Abdellah Bakkali, noted that "the passage of 10 years since the launch of the National Dialogue is a call for questioning the success of the implementation of its recommendations." In this respect, he added that said implementation is still below the expectations of the media and journalism sphere, and highlighted several indices at the levels of quality, content, legislation, and the cases involving journalists before justice. In the same context, Mr. Bakkali tackled the governance and public subsidies aspect, stressing the importance of reforming the methodology of management of this question to render the economic model of media enterprises further sustainable.
Additionally, the President of the Moroccan Federation of Newspapers Publishers, Mr. Noureddine Miftah, stated, "Media stimulates democracy, and we are today witnessing a new reality where press faces an existential challenge threatens its presence, as it has lost 70% of its prevalence, impact, and resources in just two years." On the same note, he considered the subsidies provided by the State during the Covid pandemic, which amounted to 10 years of the previous subsidies, have revived the sector.
Taking the floor on the same occasion, the Director of the Higher Institute for Information and Communication (ISIC), Mr. Abdellatif Bensfia, noted in his intervention the importance of training and continuous training for journalists as one of the Dialogue's recommendations. In the same context, Mr. Bensfia added, "the pedagogical reform of journalism training has become a pressing need to preserve the media culture." The Director of ISIC also highlighted the need to diversify the offer so that it covers other sectors that intersect with the media industry to reinforce the offer of fundamental and continuous media and communication training, and the necessity of structuring scientific research to bring up a generation of journalists that have the necessary ethics and professionalism to tackle the reform and implement the recommendations and conclusions of the Dialogue."
Speaking on occasion, Mr. Ahmed Akhchichen, one of the actors who contributed to launching the National Dialogue on Media and Society in 2010, noted that the Moroccan media is undergoing tough times following the Covid-19 pandemic. In this respect, he underscored that "this is the right time for the House of Representatives to evoke the recommendations of the National Dialogue on Media and Society, organized ten years ago, to advance the sector. The speaker added that the major questions concerning the prevalence of triviality are linked to the relation between the offer of media producers and consumers." Mr. Ahmed Akhchichen also tackled the decrease of the impact of the written press in the interest of its digital one, which dictates the intervention of public authorities to find new support methods. In this vein, he called the various actors of the media sphere to discuss the timely issues through a new lens based on the search for applicable solutions, and to find new formulas for dealing with the conclusions through an objective prism.
For their part, the Chairpersons of the Parliamentary Groups and Caucus noted the importance of advancing the social and professional conditions of journalists, emphasizing the importance of the freedom of expression and speech to guarantee the performance by media of its essential roles and missions, particularly the ones related to orientation, awareness-raising, and construction of public opinion, on the one hand, and the consolidation of democratic construction, the reinforcement of institutions, and the promotion of the conscious engagement of citizens in politics and public affairs management, on the other one.
The Seminar resumed its works on Thursday, December 22, 2022, where representatives of professional organizations presented suggestions to advance the press. In this regard, most recommendations agreed on the imperative of working towards renovating the sector for the media industry to produce intellectual wealth. The most prominent of these recommendations was the one related to enacting a framework law that regulates media, as it is a public platform that reflects the nation's development.
In his concluding statement, the Speaker of the House of Representatives underlined the openness of the House to all actors in the media sphere and its keenness to elaborate practical proposals that would contribute to the evolution of national media, amelioration of the relevant legal texts, and advancement of the social conditions of the sector’s workers. The Speaker concluded the Seminar by noting that the first step would feature the collection of recommendations and elaboration of a report that would include the contributions of all actors and stakeholders.