National Press Club
from  12 - 5 PM
Location: 529 14^th Street, NW, 13^th Floor
Washington, DC 20045 / Metro Stop: Metro Center, 13^th St. Exit
Participants:  Mohamed Dourrachad, Mohammed Alami,
Dr. Anouar Majid, Hafez Al Mirazi, Ismail Harakat , Oussama Benabdellah,  Hisham Bourar,   Mohammed Lemine , Mohsine Jbabdi, , Reda Taoujni , Mohamed Satouhi 
  1-The role of Moroccan (and Arab) expat journalists in advancing national and pan-Arab media performance and discourse

 Topic:     IS THE PRESS IN MOROCCO SUBJECT TO UNREASONABLE     CONTROLS? 
A CONVERSATION ON NECESSARY AND UNNECESSARY LIMITS ON GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS ON THE PRESS AND THE ROLE OF JOURNALISTIC RESPONSIBILITY IN MOROCCO

2-The internet as a tool to promote the image of Morocco abroad and how effectively it is being used by the state and the NGOs.

 This panel will examine the extent of press freedom in Morocco, using specific examples and focusing on actual and perceived limitations. It will assess the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the limitations; and where they are found to be unreasonable, the steps which should be taken by Moroccans and the international community (including Moroccan American organizations) to assist in enhancing or encouraging press freedom in Morocco.  Finally, the panel will consider any necessary improvements in journalistic responsibility and professional standards.
Furthermore, others have cautioned that "the development of the free press [in Morocco] did not occur overnight and continues to be a work in progress."  
"The problem of the freedom of the press should not be generalised, since it concerns only a few newspapers that are being prosecuted," Serraj said. "Journalists need to respect ... the privacy of individuals and the things the nation reveres." 
To Muhamad Serraj, Secretary-General of the National Moroccan Press Syndicate (SNPM), the authorities and the free press are equally responsible for the current situation. "The state is imposing an exaggerated strictness on independent journalists. The latter, however, needs to stick to professional ethics, since all prosecutions are caused by [their] violations of ethical standards," he told Magharebia.
Others stress that the problem is exaggerated or that even some journalists share the blame for the restrictions:
"We are very worried by the deterioration in the press freedom situation in Morocco," Reporters Without Borders said. "The mistrust that journalists feel towards the government has been reinforced by an increase in the number of prosecutions brought against them and the many other obstacles they have to face." 
An ongoing controversy is proceeding over the extent of press freedom in Morocco and who is to blame for the deficiencies:
freedom of the press is a basic principle of modern democratic nations. "A democracy cannot be established unless independent journalists, whatever their political beliefs, are allowed to work and publish freely."  A free press can not only communicate valuable information and opinion, but it also may watch over the conduct of government and institutions.  Without a free press, citizens may not fully enjoy their civic rights, including the right to cast a meaningful vote and understand issues of public concern.   But even in free nations, the press is subject to reasonable restrictions.  For example, in the United States, some limits on press freedom include defamation, obscenity and in some cases, national security.  A responsible press also subjects itself to internal limitations, including voluntary self-controls, such as journalistic ethics and rules of professional responsibility. 

  Laila Lalami, Censorship's New Clothes, N.Y. Times, Feb. 3, 2007.
  Press freedom under attack from all sides, promises not kept, June 17, 2008, available at http://www.rsf.org/Press-freedom-under-attack-from.html  See also Reporters Without Borders, Open Letter to Hillary Clinton, October 28, 2009, available at http://www.rsf.org/spip.php?page=article&id_article=34870 ("Reporters Without Borders, an organisation that defends press freedom worldwide, would like to draw your attention to the disturbing deterioration in the press freedom situation in Morocco on the eve of your official visit to that country on 2-3 November.")

Naoufel Cherkaoui, Morocco press freedom on the decline, RSF study shows, Magrebia, October 25, 2009, available at http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2009/10/25/feature-01  See also, Craig Whitlock, Humor Article Leads to Conviction of 2 in Morocco, Wash. Post, Jan. 16, 2007 ("Morocco has rapidly developed what is perhaps the most robust free press in the Arab world....But the spontaneous emergence of muckrakers and political commentators among the country's print media has provoked a backlash recently from the government.")
  Bahia Amrani, Media are force for progress in Morocco, San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 31, 2006.  See also id. ("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....Over 10 years ago, I had to contend with government censors and agents who would literally park themselves in our offices to monitor magazine content....Morocco can proudly boast that it has the freest media in the Muslim world.") (Bahia Amrani is identified as a publisher of a "Moroccan independent newsweekly.") 

Event report
by Mohamed Dourrachde 

The Washington Moroccan-American Club 20/20’s effort to organize and execute such a high number of events in different venues inside the Washington Metropolitan area was a colossal feat for participants and visitors alike.  The WMC provided Moroccans and Americans a unique opportunity to meet and exchange ideas and experiences in various areas of interest. One event in particular, the Media Town Hall Meeting, which was held at the prestigious National Press Club in Washington, D.C., was a rare occasion for Moroccan-American and Arab journalists living in the US to meet with their colleagues from Morocco and share their respective views and opinions on two important topics:  "The role of Moroccan and Arab expatriate journalists in advancing national and pan-Arab media performance and discourse," and "the internet as a tool to promote the image of Morocco abroad and how effectively it is being used by the Moroccan state, NGOs and private web users."

The two panel discussions were moderated by veteran Moroccan-American Broadcast Journalist Mohammed Dourrachad and featured two keynote speakers:  Hafez Al Mirazi, Director of the AUC's Al Adham Center for Journalism and former Al Jazeera talk-show host, and Professor Anouar Majid, Director of the Center for Global Humanities and Associate Provost for Global Initiatives at the University of New England.

Hafez Al Mirazi, Director of the AUC's Al Adham Center
for Journalism and former Al Jazeera talk-show host

The discussions were conducted in both Arabic and English.  In his introductory note, moderator Mohamed Dourrachad stressed the important role played by expatriate journalists in bringing the Arab media organizations up to industry standards. He identified two major schools of broadcast journalism—the BBC and the Voice of America—where so many Arab reporters were introduced to the principles and practices of modern broadcast journalism and went on to become the driving force behind the astonishing successes of many Arab radio and TV stations, such as the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) and Al Jazeera.

Al Mirazi gave an overview of how expatriate journalists can have a positive impact on the pan-Arab media, citing examples from personal experience.  He went even further to demonstrate that Arab expatriate journalists may also have an important role to play in shaping US foreign policy vis-à-vis the Arab World.  The presence of an experienced Arab journalist in important briefings and press conferences or during one-on-one interviews with American decision makers may help shed the light on certain aspects of the US policy in the Middle East which, without the journalists’ pertinent questions, could go unnoticed or be glossed over.

In the second and final panel, Professor Anouar Majid praised the efforts made in Morocco, especially by private telecom companies, to popularize and expand the use of the internet. However, he cautioned against using the extent of internet use as a sign of prosperity. The internet, he said, is not counted as a gauge of development.

Mohamed Dourrachad said web-based media are gradually becoming mainstream, threatening the very existence of traditional broadcast and print media. He predicted that in five to six years, the preferred medium of news and entertainment delivery will be mobile devices and that the TV screen, as we know it today, will become a thing of the past.  He also praised advances made in Moroccan internet infrastructure and access, but remarked that international researchers, especially those using the ever-pervasive English language, still have a difficult time gathering reliable information about Morocco via the internet.

Many well-known Moroccan and Arab journalists and members of the Moroccan-American community joined in the discussions with remarks and questions, including Aljazeera's Mohammed Alami and Mohammed Delbah; Al Hurra's Mohamed Lamine,  Hisham Bourar and Mohsine Jbabdi; Kader Ghanime from Arabesques; Nile News Senior Correspondent Mohammed El Setouhi; and from Morocco, Ismail Harakat of Maroc Hebdo; Oussama Ben Abdellah representing Al Riyadia, and Reda Taoujni from Assahra Al Ousbouiya; in addition to reporters from the Maghreb Arab Press (MAP) and several representatives of Moroccan-American TV service companies, including Mohammed Hajjam, Said Zairi, and Mostapha Saout. 

The exchange between the panelists and the audience touched on several issues related to both topics. Several remarks and ideas have been brought forth: Morocco needs to position itself for the anticipated revolution in mobile media technologies and should seek to become a real hub for service and content providers in the region. One way to achieve this would be for governmental departments to foster research in new media and assist private ventures in this domain.  It was also recommended that the use of the English language, besides Arabic and French, should be encouraged in governmental and non-governmental websites, with strict adherence to the rule of transparency in disseminating information in all sectors of the economy.

With respect to print and broadcast media in Morocco, it was noted that progress made in the print media sector should be sustained and emulated by the broadcast media sector, which many say is still lagging far behind.

Panelists and attendees congratulated the Washington Moroccan Club and its sister organizations for their constant efforts to unite the Moroccan-American community and help develop a better understanding between the peoples of America and the Arab World.  In this regard, special kudos go to WMC Founder and President Hassan Samrhouni, along with all the volunteers and active members of the community who helped bring about such a memorable gathering in the US Capital.

A future follow-up to this highly successful, month-long celebration is of utmost importance to the Moroccan-American community and to all Moroccans living in the United States.