The FMEJ points out unilateral press management decisions

The Moroccan Federation of Journal Publishers (FMEJ) has pointed out the “unilateral nature of the decisions taken by the supervisory ministry and the government”, concerning the decree of December 2023 and the joint ministerial decree, recently brought to the Official Bulletin. At the end of the ordinary periodic meeting of its executive office, on January 31, the body underlined “the exclusion” which it was the subject in the consultation phase, “although it was the first Signatory of the Program Contract ”and won the elections of the National Press Council (CNP), in addition to having signed the first collective agreement in the sector.
The decree in question establishes the criterion of the number of professional cards to access public support, which the FMEJ considers to be an “exaggeration” for the electronic, regional press and the weekly in paper version. “He also imposes binding and strange conditions for supporting newspaper printing works,” deplores the federation.
The joint ministerial decree establishes “additional criteria, in particular the obligation of a turnover while specifying its amount”, which makes public support a support for the capital of press companies, according to the FMEJ . “This affects the democratic and human rights of our country and opens, in addition, the way to the exclusion of most small and medium -sized press and regional press”, undermining pluralism , adds the same source.
In the same way, the FMEJ points out that “recent announcements from the ministry concerning its intention to soon announce regional support which will benefit from regional press companies has not been followed so far from concrete action”.
At the same time, the professional organization reiterated “its position of principle according to which what we have today is a commission designated by the government, in flagrant violation of the Constitution and the principle of self -regulation” of the profession, through the CNP.
As such, the FMEJ recommended a reform of the legal arsenal in this area, in order to consecrate press freedom, to infuse a spirit of democracy and human rights in the environment of the sector, in line with the ‘ethics of the profession.