Moroccan youth and the media 

 

    The first thing I did after creating this blog was asking some of my friends about what they want as qualities in those whose job is to inform them about the changes in their world- the media. Their answers were likewise : integrity, professionalism and objectivity; these qualities are found so little in Moroccan media since most of the media platforms(journals, channels, radio, web journals…) are either state controlled or owned by some political party.

   On further inquiries about these qualities, my friends defined integrity as truth, completely and utterly. They said that a large number of Moroccan journals manipulate the truth to show rather a different image than the one that is actually. Besides, some even go further with their manipulative actions to either hold vital information, or by giving a total opposite version of the happening. Moreover, they pointed out that the media only show the full half of the glass; that is to say, they only focus on the positive aspect of the story leaving its negative one.      

  Other qualities which my friends would like to have in the media are professionalism and objectivity. They both might be considered as the two faces of a coin in the media, for they are must have quality in the journalist. Because some Moroccan journalists are somehow unfamiliar with these terms, I am going to briefly define them. First, Professionalism is having the competence to practice an activity, for instant, reporting the news, with a profound efficiency; this which Moroccan media fall to do. They only report on trivial news neglecting the core issues in the ordinary Moroccan person’s life. Second, Objectivity is dealing with the news in a neutral way avoiding bias and prejudice. 

    As a sum up, my friends said that the media should be independent, straightforward and frank dealing with important issue of our society and neglecting the insignificant issues.  For after all, the media is a representation of the people, not those who own it but those ordinary folks of the society.