One of the largest television stations, 2M-TV, is owned by the government. The station’s programming includes news, pop cultures and television series. But 2M-TV was not originally owned by the government. It was created in 1989 by the media conglomerate, Omnium Nord-Africain (ONA) Group. The company created the station with the hope of creating competition and diversity in television broadcast, as most of the stations were owned by the government at the time. At the time, the station was able to do that by discussing controversial topics and using freedom of speech. However, seven years after creating 2M-TV, ONA backed out of the profit because of financial reasons and the government bought 68 percent of the station’s shares. Today, ONA is now out of business and the government now owns 80 percent of the station’s shares and have moved into an online presence also along with a radio station. The television station is free for any Moroccan citizen with a satellite.
It is unfortunate that this happened to 2M-TV, it gave the people of Morocco a chance to view unbiased television without the influence of the government, but today it is owned almost exclusively by the government, which means a completely biased. The fact that the government also offers the station completely free to the population is another point to worry about. The people of the nation now has the chance to get a television station that is owned by the government for free, which is a better offer than having to pay extra money for a station that is independent of the government.
