Tag Archives: Television

Digital Divide In Morocco

Posted on December 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

As the internet begins to spread all over the world, it continues to spread in Morocco as the internet has become a huge medium for the Moroccan people, especially blogging. The government does not regulate or own internet sites like they do with newspaper, radio or television, which is a draw for people. The only sites they do stop from existing in the country are ones that are affiliated with terrorists and even let rebellious sites to post and exist on the internet in Morocco. Blogs are not regulated, so the people can say their believes and opinions on a forum seen by different people without being reprimanded by the Moroccan government.

However, the internet is still a problem for some Moroccan people as there is a digital divide in the country. Some people have access to the internet, while others do not have any. The Moroccan government has been trying for some time to bridge the gap between the digital divide, but to no prevail. A survey found that wealthier people use the internet more and the country would like to make it accessible for those that do not have a high income. There have been some improvements as from 2010 to 2011, the number of internet users grew by 70 percent. Many companies want to get rid of the digital divide and are helping to work with the government to push towards a future where everyone in Morocco has access to the internet.

Sources:

http://www.oafrica.com/ict-policy/the-use-of-the-internet-in-morocco-measuring-the-new-digital-divide/

http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2012/10/12/feature-03

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2M-TV In Morocco

Posted on December 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

2m_tv

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.

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High Authority of Audiovisual Communication

Posted on December 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Until 1982, television stations could only be owned publicly by the government, which created extremely biased media in broadcast and destroyed any competition in business that there could have been. But all that changed when Morocco adopted in the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication (HACA), which allowed television stations to be owned privately by citizens and corporations.

Despite television stations now having the possibility of being owned privately, there are some regulations that came with the creation of HACA. If a person wants to own a station privately, first they must apply for a license from HACA. After review, HACA will then grant a license if the agency approves. A person or entity can then start their own station, but HACA also has a certain set of laws and regulations that must be followed similar to the FCC in America. Besides television, HACA also regulates radio. The agency also works to improve the quality of broadcasts from both the radio and television.

As seen with print media, the Moroccan government is extremely critical of what is published. Most media outlets are not allowed to criticize the government and with HACA the government can make rules and regulations that disallows for criticism for government. So while HACA allows for private ownership in broadcast media, it also brings a type of control from the government. It is a good thing for the Moroccan people that television stations are owned privately, but there is still not the same amount of freedom in the press that we see in America.

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All About Morocco and Egypt

Posted on December 1, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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The Kingdom of Morocco is located on the west coast of Northern Africa in a mountainous area known as the Arab West.  It has a population of about 32.6 million people and the most practiced religion is Islam. The political system in Morocco is a constitutional monarchy consisting of a king who holds most of the power and a bicameral parliament. The government owns the radio and television in Morocco. In addition, Moroccan citizens have access to over 2,000 Moroccan and foreign publications. The newspaper was the first major news publication in the country. Since the rise of the Internet, daily news is able to updated on the websites and many people follow it there. The journalists in Morocco are technically allowed to practice self-censorship meaning they have the freedom to report what they want to. However, this is only tentative though, because in the past it has been rule of thumb to avoid covering controversial political and social issues.

egypt-flag

Egypt is located on the edge of Northeast Africa and is the world’s largest Arab nation. The population consists of around 83.9 million people and the most practiced religion is also Islam. The Egyptian government is a republic, which is considered a representative democracy so the elected officials make the decisions instead of the citizens. Egypt is a major source for media in its Arab-speaking region because of the huge population and the independence from the government. Many people read their press and the TV industry supplies a lot of material for that region of the world. In Egypt, the most popular way to get news is through the television. Cairo, Egypt is the popular television hub among the Arab countries because of its use of satellite television. In the Egyptian constitution, it states that the freedom of the media is guaranteed, however this is not carried out the way it would seem. There are many laws and problems against this and the people are far from having freedom of the media.

 

Sources:      http://www.mongabay.com/reference/new_profiles/295mo.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14123019

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13313373

http://www.al-bab.com/media/freedom.htm

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Overview Of Media Structure in Morocco

Posted on November 30, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The country of Morocco has a diverse ownership in the way the media is owned in the country. Seventy percent of the print media is owned privately, but the government owns a good amount of the broadcast media. In the print business, magazines control most of the landscape and production, but Morocco also has a variety of newspapers that are published. Despite being privately owned, the government has helped the print business by giving aid to newspapers. In 2005, the state gave about $5 million U.S. Dollars to newspapers to help the business, which was taking a hit similar to what is happening to U.S. newspapers.

The broadcast media began taking a more privately-owned shift when the government established the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication, which allowed for independent broadcasters. One of the first television stations to take adavntage of this was 2M-TV, which was the second station in Morocco. Despite being privately owned at the time, the government now owns 80 percent of its shares. The government also owns a television station named ‘Société Nationale de Radiodiffusion et de Télévision.’ A privately owned station, Medi-1, is independent and one of the more popular stations in the country.

Online is a growing medium for the people of Morocco as more and more use the internet to view the news. Morocco follows the Initiative for an Open Arab Internet, which says citizens are free to browse any sites they choose, but the country still blocks some sites. Most of the blocked sites are ones that encourage radical Islamist activities and terrorism. However, Morocco does not block sites of the Polisario independence movement, which the country has been in a conflict with for 26 years. A popular tool of the internet for the Morocco people are blogs. Over the past few years, blogs have been a growing phenomenon and people use them usually for causes, which are generally not blocked by the government.

Sources:

http://www.journalismnetwork.eu/index.php/_en/country_profiles/morocco/

http://www.linktv.org/mosaic/broadcasters/morocco

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