From 1820 to 1912

In times before the appearance of printing presses, the information flow in Morocco was channeled through four means: firstly, the so-called Raqqas (pedestrians) (El kettani, 1962, p.17), which are the postmen who act aloud at the urban level the official messages:

C’est qu’un bon courrier, courant en moyenne 20 jours sur 30, gagne 40 francs par mois, et il est assurément dans ce pays-ci peu de familles ouvrières qui jouissent d’une pareille aisance.

He is a good postman, he works an average of 20 days out of 30, earns 40 francs a month, at that time very few working-class families enjoyed such prestige. (Boutbouqalt, p.116).

Second, the Barrāhs, who are the postmen who inform the people of all the news dictated by the Makhzen; It is a traditional information apparatus that was in charge of warning the populations when it came to news. Third, the mosques were another informative medium, since they represented a meeting point where news from different parts of the country was exchanged. Finally, street vendors were also an important source of news dissemination. These traditional communicative forms constituted an important oral information network and a true information apparatus in Morocco.

Regarding the history of the written press in Morocco in the 19^th century, we must begin by clarifying that, although Morocco had a printing press since 1756 (El kettani, 1962, p.14), there was no attempt to publish a journalistic edition. Regarding this point, the Moroccan historian Ibn Azzuz Al-Hakim presents the following statement:

Even though the Arabic book publishing industry, has had a great boom and importance, especially in Fez, the truth is that no Moroccan publisher thought of making a newspaper or something similar to it, until the example of Europeans, French, and Spanish residents in the country served as an incentive to imitate them (Azzuz Al Hakim, p.11).

With these words, Ibn Azzuz sends a guilty message to Moroccan publishers for not thinking of publishing any Arabic-language newspaper throughout the 19^th century. Another author who confirms this lack of interest in publishing a newspaper was Tayeb Boutbouqalt who assures that:

Il est vrai que le Gouvernement Chérifien n’avait pas prêté grand intérêt à la création d’une presse arabe nationale. (Boutbouqalt, p.47)

It is true that the Cherifian government had not taken much interest in the creation of a national Arab press.

The result of this situation is the fact that the foreign press took advantage of this lack and implanted its own bodies in the Moroccan cultural journalistic scene. Indeed, from the 19^th century on, northern Morocco received a large wave of European press. From the point of view of Adila Mustapha, the colonialist movement of the great European powers played a very decisive role in the birth and subsequent development of the foreign press in Morocco during the 19^th century:

Indeed, the development of the press in Morocco takes place in an international political context strongly marked by the triumph of the interventionist theses, with all that this means of tense and complex discussion of territorial distributions, political influences, and commercial interests in what was then called the Cherifian Empire. (Adila, 2013, p.109).

Once these introductory details have been exposed, it is now time to present the newspapers that appear in this historical framework, according to the place of their appearance and following a chronological order.

The press in the French protectorate

In the French zone, to confront the Moroccan nationalist press and for fear of the installation of a foreign press adverse to the French colonialist action, General Lyautey (1925-1912) approved a decree-law, on April 27^th, 1914:

Le Dahir du 27 avril 1914 fut promulgué comme première loi visant la codification de la Presse au Maroc. Il s’inspirait, en principe, de la loi française du 29 juillet 1881 ; mais, sur des points, la législation marocaine était beaucoup moins libérale :

-Elle imposait la déclaration préalable pour faire paraitre un périodique, alors que cette contrainte avait été abolie en France.

- Elle exigeait le dépôt d’un cautionnement s’élevant aa 6000 francs alors que cette mesurée avait été supprimée en France depuis 1881.

The Dahir (royal decree) April 27^th, 1914 was promulgated as the first law governing the codification of the press in Morocco. In principle, it was inspired by the French law of July 29^th, 1881; but, on the points relating to Moroccan legislation it was much less liberal.

-Prior declaration was imposed to have a newspaper published, when this limitation was abolished in France.

-The presentation of a surety of 6000 francs was required, when this measure had been abolished in France since 1881. (Biada, 1996, p.94)

As can be seen, this law requires, among other things, that publishing directors be of French nationality. The main content of this law is summarized in the following point: that before publishing, any newspaper must request prior authorization from the attorney general for publications in Arabic or Hebrew. This legal framework makes the development of a Moroccan nationalist press extremely difficult; It supposes total and iron control over it. This situation forced many academics at Al-Qarawiyyin University to go underground to transmit their ideas by writing manuscripts. Such is the case of Said Hajji, considered by many historians to be the precocious genius of the Moroccan nationalist press, who produces by his own means a clandestine Arabic-speaking newspaper Al-Widad, edited and written by his own hands.

Unlike the nationalist journalistic publications, the pro-colonialist press received greater support, subsidies, and accompaniment. As an example, Pierre Mas has been able to create a media empire that controls practically all journalistic publishing. What's more, he has been able to found his own news agency and manipulated all the advertising revenue. Along the same lines, we illustrate the example of the newspaper Assa'āda (Happiness), which was very fortunate and received significant French state subsidies for greater editorial convenience.

It should be noted that at the beginning of the Second World War, France was under German rule, the field of freedoms was considerably reduced; the legal regulations are very severe; the press is subjected to military rule and many newspapers disappear and are systematically banned or subjected to censorship. Thus, on August 29^th, 1939, a new very severe decree was produced to limit freedom of expression, which prohibited the dissemination of military news and created new administrative cells for the censorship and prohibition of the press.

However, after the Second World War ended, an important change took place in the Moroccan press: the journalistic body was divided into two opposing blocks: on the one hand, a national press that vindicates the legitimate rights of sovereignty and independence and another, of a pro-colonialist tendency that defends the French occupation of Moroccan territory.

Among those represented by the first group is the nationalist press, which exploits all possible means to claim the independence of the country. Some nationalist journalists sometimes resorted to allying with the Barrahs to market their newspapers. What most identifies the nationalist press is its sensitizing nature; their pens were directed at the service of the legitimate national issue, which was the vindication of the country's independence. It should be noted that the nationalist press was represented by three organs: partisan, trade union, and independent. Regarding the partisan press, the Al-Istiqlal party publishes its first newspaper in Arabic, Al-Alam on September 11^th, 1946, and another in French, L′Opinion, in 1947, which was directed by Abderrahim Boubid (El Messari, Al-Alam, 09/11/1996, p.11). For its part, the communist party publishes two weeklies, one in French, Espoir (Baida, p.308), and another in Arabic, but it publishes it in hiding, Hayāt Ashabāb (Life of the young). Regarding the trade union press, we cite L′Action Sindical and Al-Istiqlal, in which Al-Mahjoub Ben Sdiq actively collaborated. Finally, the independent press was represented by the newspaper, L′Hebdomadaire Juene Magrébin (Baida, 1996, pp. 313-315).

In conclusion, at the time of the French protectorate, we can distinguish between two journalistic groups: a press that vindicates the legitimate rights of sovereignty and independence and another, of a pro-colonialist tendency that defends the French occupation of Moroccan territory.

The press in the Spanish zone

Unlike the French area, where only the pro-colonial newspaper, Assa'āda, edited by the General Residence of France in Rabat, was authorized, the Arab press in the northern area of Morocco enjoyed better conditions. In this regard, we reproduce the reflections of Ibn Azzuz:

It is worth noting the flourishing of the Arab press in the northern part of Morocco, as it contrasted with the scarcity of titles that were given in the rest of Morocco, where only one Arab body was published as if the spirit of freedom of press […] The authorities of the French Protectorate have prohibited the publication and circulation of all the press written by the Moroccans or devoted to defending their interests (Azzuz Al Hakim, 1967, p.11).

The previous precision makes it clear that the press in the Spanish zone had days of relative freedom of action. Moreover, it must be said that the press in the Spanish area covers many cities and towns. In Adila Mustapha's words:

According to our own calculation, a total of 157 periodical publications on diverse subjects, with a variable periodicity, and different pagination, see the light of day in various cities and towns in the North of Morocco. (ADILA, Magriberia, No. 8/9, 2013, pp. 275-289).

The foregoing shows the great interest that the press has had in the area under Spanish rule. Indeed, the Arab press in Tetouan had majestic and brilliant Moroccan journalists, among them, we cite Mohamed Daoud, who was the first to publish an Arab nationalist newspaper, Assalām (Peace) in 1933. Another of the great nationalist journalists, Abdeljalek Torres, who in 1934 published the newspaper Al-Ḥayāt (Life). For his part, on February 3^rd, 1937, the nationalist Mohamed Al-Makki Annasiri, gave birth to a new publication in Arabic and Spanish, Al-Waḥda Al-Magribiya (The Moroccan Unity). It should be noted that the nationalist press in the north of Morocco represented the emancipation desires of the entire country, but it was never of a regional tendency, its only objective is to defend the independence of the entire country. For many historians, the development of the Arab press in Tetouan is due to the abundance of printing presses. In this regard, Fernando Valderrama comments:

When the presence of Spain returned to Tetouan, printing presses were created again, the first being La Papelera Africana, founded in 1914, which was followed by the Córdoba y Vialá printing press in 1917. In Larache, the first was created, which was the Iberian, in 1914. Today Tetuán has 12 printing presses, 5 of them with Arabic characters. (Valderrama, 1956, p.746).

Regarding the legal framework of the press in the Spanish area, it must be said that it was governed by the Regulation of July 22^nd, 1927, repealed by Dahir of January 11^th, 1936. Among the journalistic publications in the Spanish area, we can cite the example of the newspaper El Español, which appears in 1938. This is considered the first Spanish newspaper in Tangier and the Spanish protectorate in Morocco. Another important newspaper in the Spanish area is the Diario de África, which was created under the direction of Mr. José Carrasco Téllez on November 15^th, 1943:

The Diario de Africa is, to a greater extent and by its more detailed life than its predecessor Marruecos, the practically official organ of expression of the Protectorate. […] The majority of its columnists, the treatment of the information given by its editors, the subsequent support for the work of the High Commissioners, the way of talking about the Jalifa […] were the usual ones of any government newspaper (Gil, 2002, p.72).

It is evident from the above that it is a journalistic publication that conforms to the policy of the Spanish Government. Once the development of the press in times of the Protectorate has been broadly exposed, it is now time to indicate the evolution of the press in Morocco in post-colonization times.

The partisan press (1956-1990

After the independence of Morocco, France wanted to maintain, through the press, its influence and economic interests. The French media group Mas (named after its boss, Pierre Mas) maintains a strong presence, especially through its four francophone newspapers that continue to be freely published: Le Petit Marocain; L′Echo du Maroc; La Vigie Marocaine, and Le Courier du Maroc.

Independent Morocco rejects the single party and establishes multipartyism. One of the natural consequences of this process is the appearance of numerous press bodies of different political sensitivities. Among the large newspapers, we cite Al-Alam (the flag), the official body of the Al-Istiqlal (Independence) party, which has extensive professional experience. Founded in 1946, this newspaper goes on to represent the spokesperson that disseminates the ideology of the militants of this political party.

The post-colonialist Moroccan press was closely linked to the great ideological forces on the Moroccan political scene. In other words, the media landscape was strongly dominated by a partisan press, which no longer has as its objective the fight against colonization, but rather the struggle for power between the two political parties themselves. This new reality has allowed a great boom in the partisan press that reigned over the landscape of the written press for decades. In this way, once a new party is created, it is provided with a journalistic body as a spokesperson and diffuser of its ideology and political ideas (Al-Istiqlal and the Socialist Union of Popular Forces).

The starting point of this new journalistic scenario was within the Al-Istiqlal party itself since the oldest party in Morocco suffered a split in 1959. Which gave birth to a new left-leaning party, called the National Union of Popular Forces, which will become the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) in 1975. The UNFP will immediately equip itself with its official Arabic-language body, A-Ttahrir, under the leadership of Mohammed Basri, its chief editor was Abderramán Yussufi. What opens a political-media war with the conservative party of Al-Istiqlal and its newspaper Al-Alam. The political rivalry between the two parties, Al-Istiqlal and the UNFP, was clearly felt in the press, Attahrir and Al-Alam wage a daily battle of opposing ideas.

It should be noted that, for many authors, during this historical context, the Moroccan press lived an unequaled time; it enjoyed a greater margin of freedom of expression. The newspapers were highly politicized; related to their editorial lines. In other words, the profession of journalism at that time has become synonymous with political militancy and the press was above all a spokesperson, before being an informative medium. Additionally, it had brilliant and majestic journalist-militants, who possessed literary pens of great professional quality. Among them, we cite Mehdi Ben Barka, Mohamad Hasan Ouazzani, Allal El Fassi, Abdallah Ibrahim, Abderrahman Bouabid.

It should be noted that despite the long media career of the Moroccan press, the names of the journalists who have given rise to its popularity in the Arab world, and the publication of dozens of Moroccan newspapers since the early 19^th century, there was no journalism training institution in Morocco. We will have to wait until 1969 for the first journalistic training nucleus to emerge led by the German Friedrich Neuman Foundation. This training is outlined in two stages: the first lasting two years, during which students receive theoretical classes. In the second stage that takes place in two years, students complete their training with aspects related to the technical and practical, besides receiving the official title of journalist.

In short, the Moroccan press after independence had an institutionally political militancy, be it of the right, of the left, or of the monarchy. The post-colonialist Moroccan press was heavily dominated by the great ideological forces on the Moroccan political scene. Each political party maintains its publications as bodies or spokespersons for its political proposals. The most prestigious newspapers are in the hands of political parties. In this way, the newspapers Al-Alam and L’Opinion are considered the journalistic voice of the Al-Istiqlal party. In turn, the two newspapers: Al-Ittihad Al-Ichtiraki and Libération, are journalistic voices of the USFP party. Al-Bayane is the newspaper of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS). Al-Haraka for the Popular Movement Party (MP), etc. With the creation of new right-wing or center-right parties such as the National Congress of Independents in 1978, the National Democratic Party (PND) in 1981, and the Constitutional Union (UC) in 1983, they will immediately equip themselves with their journalistic organs: Attajammoue Al-Watani; Al-Ittihad Addoustouri, etc.

In the same line, the 1973 Foreign Companies Marroquinization Law made many foreign newspapers disappear. Thus, the press of the MAS group changed its name and came under the control of the Moroccan group Maroc Soir. As a result of this new situation, the French newspaper, La Vigie, will receive the name of Le Soir, and the newspaper Le Petit Marocain is transformed into Le Matin (later, Le Matin du Sahara). Furthermore, in 1974, the Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP) (Al-Ittihad Al-Ichtiraki, 10-02-1992, p.4), will be placed under the tutelage of the State. This situation allows the Moroccan regime to represent real competition to the partisan press.

Starting in the late 1980s, the partisan press has finally weakened and soon began to lose its influence and a large part of its readership, as a result of the decline in popularity of political parties. Some newspapers have disappeared, while others have survived, thanks in large part to state subsidies. This situation greatly favored the development of new journalism in the last decade of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^st century.

1990- today

Starting in the mid-1990s, the Moroccan journalistic world map underwent a profound change. Several motivations have influenced this evolution, among which we can mention the favorable political considerations; At the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties, we witnessed new political measures in the field of freedoms: the liberalization of the press and political prisoners, the new Constitution of 1990, and the creation of the Consultative Council on Human Rights.

To all these conditions, it should be added that at the beginning of the nineties, great technological innovations began to revolutionize printing techniques; the renewal of its technical means with the introduction of computing and color. To this must be added the weakness suffered by the partisan press had a very positive echo in the field of the press.

The combined effects of these factors had a great impact on the development of new journalistic voices. In particular, they are beginning to give birth to the partisan press. The first independent newspapers, Maroc Hebdo in 1991, the daily newspaper Assahifa in 1997, followed in 1998 by Al Ahdath Al-Maghribia.

The rise of the liberal press is specified with the arrival of King Mohamed VI in 1999. Indeed, the Moroccan press is going to experience a radical change thanks to globalization, the ease of information circulation, human rights... various newspapers and weeklies in Arabic and French, called independent and non-partisan, will be created. Then came the titles Nichane, Al-Massae, Akhbar Al-yawm, and many other Arabic or French-speaking daily and weekly newspapers. The number of titles in 2006 was 398 newspapers and magazines. It should also be noted the appearance of regional newspapers even in small cities. The press has become a full-fledged trade thanks to its operation dictated by specialized and professional companies but above all thanks to the advertising that is the greed of all public and private media. It should be noted that in 2004, the Diffusion Justification Body (OJD by its acronym in Spanish) was created as a body whose objective is to control the circulation and dissemination of printed newspapers and magazines, provide statistics, and negotiate advertising prices.

In our days, many newspapers of the political parties have disappeared and no longer have partisan journalistic bodies. Others experience a free fall in sales and only survive thanks to the help of the state. At present, numerous difficulties weaken the good development of the journalistic practice in Morocco. Indeed, a series of structural-professional and legislative limitations limit the implementation of the good functioning of the written press. Among the serious problems the Moroccan written press face, we can highlight the fact that the number of newspapers read by Moroccans is very modest. According to a report by the Ministry of Communication, only 1% of the Moroccan population reads the written press:

Presse écrite : Lectorat: A peine 1% de la population.

Written press: readers: barely 1% of the population. (M.AZ, LʹÉconomiste, 02/05/201; Available at: http://leconomiste.com/article/presse-ecritebrlectorat-peine-1-de-la-population. Consultation date: 25/05/2019).

The above precision makes it clear that the low reading rate in Morocco greatly hinders the development of the journalistic business enterprise. According to the data provided by the OJD, in 2017, the total number of copies sold every day throughout the country was 189,662 (Assemblée Générale de l'OJD Maroc, 07∕10∕ 2017. Available at: http://www.ojd.ma/Actualites/Observatoire-2017. Consultation date: 25/09/2019). This situation is mainly due to the high illiteracy of the population. Besides the lack of newspaper reading habits and low purchasing power. Another very worrying element for the Moroccan written press is the excessive competition from the digital press. To this should be added another phenomenon that violates the paid written press, is that of free newspapers that are widely read, such as L’Intermédiaire, Au Fait, Logic Hebdo.

Regarding the income of the Moroccan press, it must be said that it comes from three sources: sales, advertising, and state subsidies. Concerning advertising, it should be noted that it constitutes one of the main incomes of most newspapers:

L’aide de l’Etat a la presse est devenu l’une des éléments clés de l’économie de la presse dons la mesure ou elle conditionne la suivre de certaines publications en difficulté qui n’arrivent pas par leurs propres moyens a assurer l’équilibre de gestion.

State aid to the press has become one of the key elements of the economy of the press and constitutes an important source of income for some publications in crisis that cannot ensure management balance by their own means. (Association des Economistes Marocains, 1996, p.65)

As far as public subsidies are concerned, it is convenient to distinguish between three types: direct subsidies granted by the Royal Palace and others from the Ministry of Communication. There are also other types of indirect aids, such as: free subscription to the service of the official MAP agency, free transport, and accommodation for journalists, etc.

Regarding the legal framework that governs the Statute of professional journalists, it must be said that according to dahir number 1-95-9 of Ramadan 22 1415 (February 22^nd, 1995), the journalist is one whose main, regular, and remunerated occupation is the exercise of their profession, in one or several publications or newspapers published in Morocco, in one or more information agencies, or in one or more broadcasting organizations, whose main headquarters are located in Morocco.

The legislator added another condition to be able to enjoy the quality of professional journalists and to benefit from the advantages granted to the representatives of the press by the administrative authorities or by any other public or private institution; it is being the holder of a professional card granted by the Ministry of Communication. The same law requires that, within the framework of the exercise of their profession, the journalist has the right to access sources of information, respecting current legislation.

In Morocco there is only one public institution for training in journalism, is the Higher Institute of Information and Communication (ISIC), based in Rabat and under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication, which also has limited capacity. However, the students of this institute are increasingly deviating from the written press, opting for the electronic press.

Besides this public institute, there are some private journalism training schools, mainly in Casablanca, where most of the newspapers are concentrated. However, their students are not appreciated by the newspapers, as the training they provide is unsatisfactory due to the lack of professional teaching bodies. However, on many occasions, in the face of an insufficient supply of training, journalistic companies frequently turn to university professors in certain specialties, in particular economics, law, or languages. For its part, the media group Maroc Soir (which publishes the two newspapers LʹÉconomiste and Assabah), has even created its own Journalism Training School.

Moroccan journalists, due to the nature of their work, face different risks of misinformation, of publishing erroneous information that could attack people or institutions, and harm their interests. Which often exposes them to legal action. In this regard, the journalistic profession is endowed with a Press Code.

The current organization of the sector is also based on a series of forums that represent professionals. They are the Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Editors (FMEJ), the Moroccan Federation of Media (FMM); and for journalists, the National Union of the Moroccan Press (SNPM), the Press Club, the Moroccan Association of Sports Press (AMPS), and the Arab League of Journalists accredited in Morocco.Haut du formulaire