BRCD

Archive for December, 2009

Morocco has been very active in the negotiations of the Doha Round of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The consistent position of the Moroccan government has been in favour of the exclusion of cultural goods and services and the broadcasting of such from the negotiations for trade liberalization. This position has been the same as argued by the government during the negotiations of the Morocco Free Trade Agreement with the United States: to exclude any and all references regarding the liberalization of cultural and broadcasting products. The government and involved societal groups are convinced that this is a way to protect the Moroccan culture and the diversity of the country.

This posture reflects the political and social consensus of the country. Not only in the political realm has there been awareness of the need to protect and promote the cultural diversity of the country, but also in recent years many diverse social groups and professionals have emerged that are working in this direction. One of these groups is the Moroccan Coalition for Culture and the Arts, an association of cultural professionals and which has strong links to the Comité International de Liaison des Coalitions pour la Diversité Culturelle (CIL). The Coalition acts as a lobbying group on the Moroccan authorities, but also has mobilized for the defence of the uniqueness of cultural products. For its part, the HACA maintains permanent exchange and dialogue with these organizations.

The Moroccan government has been very active in the creation and approval processes for the “Convention for the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expression” of UNESCO. Currently, the involved organizations are making a broad effort in the follow-up and dissemination of this Convention.

The political and social consensus existing in Morocco is reflected in the public policies and in broadcasting regulations. On one hand, the government has devoted more resources for audiovisual productions that show the cultural diversity of the country. Equally, it is important to note the Moroccan government intends to promote the communications media of the country throughout the region, in order to establish ties between the Maghrebi people and those of other countries, bringing Morocco closer to the people living in other countries.

And on the other hand, the HACA has completed an important administrative and executive project in the legal area. First is the recognition of the linguistic and cultural diversity of the country obliges that the HACA monitor the granting of quotas to ensure the presence of minoritarian languages in the public and private broadcasting media, especially French and the Amazigh languages. The second is that the HACA has introduced quotas for the broadcasting of Moroccan content (music and audiovisual productions) within the terms of agreements for the granting of radio and television licences.

There are also other measures that address the promotion of the Moroccan audiovisual industry. One of these is the obligation of public broadcasters to produce or co-produce audiovisual content. Public media are required to provide resources to produce about 30 cinematographic works. For music, radio stations must dedicate 30% of their airtime to music produced in Morocco. The aim is to limit the ability of the broadcast media to acquire cheaper content from foreign producers, namely those from America and India.

Currently Morocco is experiencing changes in the forms of consumption of the communications media. This change is produced in parallel with a process of liberalization of communications via satellite and radio.

Given the presence of television broadcasting by satellite to Morocco, the HACA has contracted an audience rating company to measure the impact of satellite channels. The initial results show that international news channels from Egypt, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have a large number of viewers. The Saudi channel, Al-Jazeera, has the largest audience, with an approximate share of 18%.

Regarding those public channels that broadcast by satellite from Morocco, two of them broadcast to Europe in a group of six channels. The HACA is responsible for controlling the quality of the programming of these channels and one of the basic criteria is the promotion of elements that facilitate the rooting of Moroccan immigrants in their adoptive countries. One of the existing challenges, which is under review, is the coordination needed among broadcasters and regulators of those countries receiving the signal.

Another challenge is the broadcasting of television over the Internet. Recently the HACA granted a licence to Maroc Telecom to broadcast audiovisual content via the Internet. This case demonstrates the intention to guarantee pluralism in the media for the citizens of Morocco.