National Information Day: an essential step to assess the reality of the press and explore future prospects – Media7

Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 12:14 p.m.

Jaouad TOUIOUEL

Rabat – Celebrated on November 15 each year, National Information Day offers the opportunity to take stock of the progress made by the press sector in Morocco, while evaluating the reality of the profession and prospecting the prospects of future.

Despite the progress made, professionals in the sector still aspire to promote a free and responsible national press capable of meeting the challenges imposed by developments on the national and international scenes.

In this regard, the expected reform of the media landscape aims, among other things, to build competitive press companies, particularly in the face of the challenges faced by different journalistic genres today.

Thus, among these challenges are those faced by the written press with the sharp decline in both readership and newspaper sales.

Despite the achievements made, thanks in particular to the collective agreement signed by the National Union of the Moroccan Press, the National Association of Media and Publishers and the supervisory ministry, certain press companies do not apply the terms of this agreement, which makes it difficult to promote this journalistic genre.

In this regard, teacher-researcher Abdessamad Moutie, deputy director at ISIC, believes that to continue to exist, the written press must adopt editorial strategies supporting the content, while seeking to interact with the public.

In a statement to MAP, he noted that newspapers must draw inspiration from certain successful experiences using digital media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the aim being to attract more readers.

The written press must also opt for mobile applications which present information in a fluid and rapid manner, while diversifying multimedia content: videos, photos, infographics podcasts, he said.

Concerning the audiovisual sector, Mr. Moutie maintains that despite the change recorded with the end of the monopoly and the creation of several channels and radios, the national product still does not meet the expectations of the public, pleading for more quality and professionalism in the audiovisual offering.

In this sense, the audiovisual media are called upon to make greater use of new information technologies to have diversified and attractive content, he continued, insisting on the importance of product diversification to face competition. more and more harsh.

Mr. Moutie also affirmed that it is necessary to review the program schedule of thematic channels by opening up to subjects in line with the dynamics experienced by Moroccan society and the economy.

He also underlined the need to develop radio stations so that they open up to subjects of interest to all sections of society through program schedules focused on proximity.

Addressing the reality of the electronic press, Mr. Moutie indicated that even if certain sites and platforms have contributed to the national political and economic debate by supporting with more professionalism certain subjects of interest to the citizen, this experience remains limited in terms of quality and professionalism.

He thus emphasized the importance for this journalistic genre to develop content, by interacting with the observations and expectations of the public, making it known that the electronic press is facing the repercussions of the media revolution, notably with the problems linked ethics and fake news.

The celebration of National Information Day therefore constitutes an opportunity to establish a diagnosis of the press situation, while proposing adequate solutions capable of enabling this sector to fully contribute to the dynamics experienced by the country. .