Report on Media in Morocco - Arab Center for the Rule of Law and ...

and employ at least 5 (weeklies) and 8 journalists (dailies). Furthermore, the issues
shall be published regularly and the operational accounts should be published
annually, in addition to the sales of every issue.
This new procedure of distribution of subsidies did not, on the one hand, put
restrictions on the privileged status of the party press which continued to benefit from
two types of subsidies: one which falls with the framework of supporting parties, and
the other which benefits all the newspapers. On the other hand, the said procedure did
not rely on the level of the circulation and sales of the newspapers to distribute the
said subsidies.
Moreover, the first experiment of distribution of subsidies within the framework of
these new standards triggered some remarks. Some of these newspapers received the
subsidies without having fulfilled the required conditions 75 . Others obtained subsidies
though they are the property of foreigners 76 .
1-5 Personal Independence of Journalists
1-5-1 Control of Content
The data revealed by the opinion poll shows that 51% of those polled believe that
journalists control the contents of their articles. The said percentage reveals the
weakness of the personal independence of the journalists exercising their profession.
We also note that the said journalists differ in this regard from those working in the
public media and those of the written press. In the latter, they differ in terms of those
working in the independent press and those working with a party newspaper or the
pro-government press. With respect to the first type of journalists (those working in
the public media), their control over their agenda and their editorial standpoints is
relatively limited. They are found in a status that resembles that of a civil servant,
where the hierarchy is strict, and where entry to and exit from the company requires
the signature of the attendance sheets. There were many journalists, whether in
Channel 1 or Channel 2 or at the Arab Morocco News Agency, who expressed their
discomfort and their complaints vis-à-vis this situation while they were interviewed
during the preparation of this report.
Things are not much different for journalists working in a party newspaper. Their
editorial standpoints are often not those discussed during the editorial meetings, but
are imposed by the orientations or choices of the party, especially if the supervisors of
positions of responsibility in these newspapers, are, with no exception, members of
the political bureaus or central committees of the parties that publish those
newspapers 77 .
The situation is very different with respect to the independent press. Most of the
newspapers leave a wide margin for the movement of their journalists, whether in
terms of organization of their work or the nature of the topics tackled. Most of the
times, it is enough to inform the editor-in-chief and sometimes raise the subject during
the editorial meeting and discuss it with the other journalists. The editorial standpoints
of journalists in such type of press are generally marked by total independence from
75 This is related to some party newspapers that are not subject to the conditions imposed by the
"contract-program" agreement, and yet, they benefited from the subsidies based on another standard set
by the Ministry of Communications and is related to encouraging pluralism.
76 The group of "Maroc Soir" newspaper.
77 There is no partisan newspaper whose supervisor is not a leading member in the party publishing it.