HIBAPRESS
The National Radio and Television Company organized, on Monday, May 4, 2026, within the activities of its institutional pavilion at the 31st session of the International Publishing and Book Fair in Rabat, a communication meeting dedicated to highlighting the experience of the regional channel "Al-Ayoune", as a central media pillar in establishing the Moroccan identity of the Sahara, and a strategic lever in valuing and appreciating Hassani culture, considering it an original component of Moroccan identity.
The speakers at the meeting discussed the qualitative role played by the channel since its launch in 2004, in documenting and appreciating the audio-visual heritage of Hassani culture, and enhancing the presence of Moroccan Hassani culture in the national and international audio-visual media space. In this context, and in accordance with its commitments as a regional channel within the public media services package, "Al-Ayoune" channel continues to play its role in providing proximity media that values the cultural specificity of the southern regions; including poetry, music, and social customs, and transforming this heritage from its oral form into a permanent and accessible audio-visual archive for new generations.
The participants also highlighted the prominent sovereign role of this channel in defending the territorial integrity of Morocco, by conveying and documenting the field reality, and keeping pace with the developmental dynamics of the southern regions, and conducting field investigations from inside the detention camps in Tindouf, which enabled the transmission of live and conclusive testimonies about complex human and social conditions; all of which are media efforts and achievements that exposed the separatist discourse and dismantled its pillars on the basis of documented facts and evidence.
In this regard, Ms. Naama Daoudi, journalist and presenter of the news bulletin on the channel, highlighted the role of the latter as an actor in "media diplomacy", as the channel contributes to the country's diplomatic work, by its media coverage with sound and image of the reality of the southern regions and their developmental renaissance, while ensuring, as a channel with general programming, to respond to the needs of the widest segments of the public, inside and outside Morocco, in terms of news, entertainment and awareness.
Mr. Ibrahim Ajdoud, journalist and presenter of the news bulletin on the "Al-Ayoune" channel, discussed the channel's achievements in building a strategic national audio-visual archive that constitutes a valuable national asset for documenting Hassani culture in its linguistic, artistic, and social dimensions. This archive ensures the continuity of this culture's presence within the public space, especially among the rising generations, through programs that focus on Hassani poetry, oral heritage, customs and rooted traditions.
The participants in the symposium affirmed that in extending this path, the new management of the channel has succeeded in strengthening these gains and preserving the continuity of this strategic performance, through multiple axes, including developing the media offering and strengthening editorial positioning, keeping pace with digital transformations and expanding the presence on digital interfaces, and consolidating the channel's role as a pivotal player in the national media system, and the strategic defense of the Kingdom's sovereign issues.
The National Radio and Television Company also highlighted in this symposium the success of "Al-Ayoune" channel in consolidating its position as a channel for cultural and linguistic proximity to the Hassani audience, and distinguished by the credibility of news processing and the accuracy of verifying information, and the direct and sustainable involvement in the issues of the Hassani community and its daily concerns, in a regional competitive context that includes more than 12 channels sharing a basin of approximately 5 million viewers.
In this regard, Mr. Mohamed Khi, Head of the Coordination Department at the Department of Communication and Institutional Relations of the National Radio and Television Company, highlighted that the strength of the "Al-Ayoune" channel's positioning is based on a tangible production outcome; the volume of internal production during the year 2025 reached a total of 431 hours of various programs, including 365 news bulletins, in addition to various political, cultural, social, sports, and religious programs. This offering was also enhanced by external production reaching 209 hours, which reflects a remarkable program density and diversity in the content directed to the widest segments of the public.
It should be noted that the institutional pavilion of the National Radio and Television Company, at the current session of the International Publishing and Book Fair, comes in line with its slogan "The National Radio and Television Company, a lever for Moroccan culture", and positions a space open for interaction around the roles of public media in valuing national culture and keeping pace with its strategic issues, in harmony with the strategic vision of the institution, and the directives of Mr. Faisal El Araichi, CEO of the National Radio and Television Company, related to consolidating openness, ensuring the receipt of public comments and ensuring the follow-up of its suggestions, and bringing the public media facility and its content creators closer to the general public.
