BRCD

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.

Regulatory authorities as such were created in order to protect rights and freedoms, defend free competition and prevent market monopolies. Today these broadcasting regulatory bodies have assumed the responsibility of preserving free commerce, while favouring political, social, cultural and linguistic pluralism. Their future challenge is to manage and assure cultural diversity, which is a shared human heritage. The principal tool to assure this issue of general interest has been the establishment of criteria for conceding licences.

Under this practice, regulatory authorities have monitored programming by broadcasters so that pluralism in general, including political, social, cultural and linguistic pluralism, is respected. But beyond this, we believe that regulatory authorities have a responsibility to define, in each instance, the specific aspects that are entailed in safeguarding diversity, in its specific social context and in the context of global information society.

We believe, therefore, that it is a priority of the highest order that the various broadcasting regulatory authorities lead this debate. This debate must bring awareness of certain steps and certain mutual and consensual strategies that will guarantee respect for cultural diversity.