Heba Press – Rabat
The Interim Committee for the Management of Press and Publishing Sector Affairs welcomed the royal pardon granted to three journalists, as part of an amnesty that concerned 2,476 people, on the occasion of the Throne Day 2024.
The aforementioned committee, in a communication of which Hiba Press received a copy, welcomed this generous gesture, which confirms, once again, the humanitarian dimension based on the principles of compassion and empathy, in the treatment of those pardoned and their families.
On the occasion of the glorious Throne Day, which commemorates the twenty-five years of the accession of His Majesty the King, may God grant him victory, to the throne of his blessed ancestors, the Interim Committee recalls, throughout this phase, the achievements that have been made in the fields of journalism and the media, whether in the liberalization of the audiovisual sector or in successive reforms, what the Journalism and Publishing Blog knew, and the support and attention that journalists and workers in journalistic companies received, especially during this period. the quarantine period, during the Covid-19 epidemic crisis, which continued thereafter.
The Interim Committee for the Management of Press and Publishing Sector Affairs also recalls the Royal Directives, which affirmed His Majesty’s concern for the supremacy of the principles of press freedom within the framework of respect for the law, professional ethics and the nobility of its objectives, such as the message of His Majesty the King to the press and the media family on the occasion of National Media Day 2002, in which he stated: “(…) However, our national media scene cannot meet the challenges of the new millennium imposed by the globalization of broadcast programs presented through the media and the gradual generalization of the benefit of the qualifications of the knowledge and communication society, unless its working methods are radically reconsidered and the legal texts are made available for this. tools and resources.
“(…) We therefore call on our government to devote itself, as soon as possible, and in consultation with professional organisations in the sector, to studying measures which will improve our journalism.”
As Her Majesty stated in the 2004 Speech from the Throne, “(…) Since the reform of the political space will remain incomplete without a comprehensive reform of the media scene, due to their organic interdependence in the democratization of the State and society, we are determined to pursue fundamental reforms of the national media scene, including the creation of a law regulating opinion polls, expecting the government to work towards the emergence of professional, free and responsible media institutions, in particular by making the written press sector accountable, in consultation and by entering into contracts with various stakeholders for a representative professional body that will ensure its organization and control on a legal and ethical level and protect it from practices that undermine the nobility of its message.
In the message that His Majesty the King addressed to the participants in the eighth session of the Islamic Conference of Information Ministers in 2009, he stressed: “(…) We have also issued our royal directives to work towards ensuring the necessary conditions for the establishment of free and responsible professional media institutions and the emergence of a progressive media industry, by reviewing the system of public support for the print media, developing its legal system and providing it with a body that supervises the organization of the profession and its legal and ethical aspects. framework. Our doctrine in this regard is that the media is an indispensable partner in consolidating citizenship, as long as it operates within a democratic framework, the foundation of which is the rule of law, its pillar is professionalism, its spirit is ethics and its essence is the objective enlightenment of public opinion.
Several of these high royal directives were enshrined in the 2011 Constitution, which included advanced principles to guarantee freedom of the press and media and the right of access to information. That is why we, in the Interim Committee for the Management of Press and Media Affairs. The publishing sector, invoked all these high royal directives and the principles of the Constitution, presenting a comprehensive diagnosis for the sector and proposals to improve journalistic practice in our country through strong national and regional companies, highly qualified human resources and a stable social situation, democratic laws open to the future and self-regulation that corresponds to international experiences in this field.
As we extend to His Majesty the King our warmest congratulations and blessings, on the occasion of the glorious Throne Day, we aspire, like all components of the press and media sector, to continue these reforms that have marked twenty-five years of Moroccan history eagerly awaiting our country to be equipped with institutions and companies capable of facing the challenges our country faces, in a world where it is more certain than ever that the security of information and information frames access to it, its circulation, as well as its integration into the revolution of information and communication technologies, and the establishment of mechanisms to limit some of its negative repercussions, will determine the fate of everything… A country and its future.
