Morocco: In Dire Need Of Journalistic maturity

Every time a Moroccan newspaper or magazine is banned from publication, a journalist or an editor investigated by the government, freedom of speech advocates and international media, like El Pais and Le Monde, cry wolf. They refuse to look beyond the fact that the government is “harassing” journalists and “suppressing” freedom of the media. They mount a campaign decrying the actions of the government as if they were unjustifiable, as though unethical, biased journalistic reporting were a myth.

The undemocratic quiddity of our government has been descried countless times before; It is an undeniable fact that the Moroccan government has sought to muzzle the independent media when it denounces its authoritarian practices, uncovers the suborn schemes of its elite, and calls for political accountability. Yet, when journalists who are more thrilled to see their names in print than to serve the public’s need to be informed publish information that is exaggerated and sometimes false, the authorities need to intervene. Often, when the government reacts to such conjectural and sensationalistic reporting, it is easily denied the benefit of the doubt and its actions are immediately labeled repressive and undemocratic. We forget that the mark of a free and responsible press is its obligation to stave off disinformation, especially the kind concocted by foreign intelligence services and designed to undermine Morocco ‘stability and adversely affect its economy.

When, on 26 August, the Palace, uncharacteristically, issued an official communiqué informing the nation the king is convalescing due to a viral gastroenteritis (commonly known as stomach flu), Al-Jarida Al-Oula, Al-Ayam and Al-Michaal larded the report with speculations. Al-Michaal’s front page read: THE SECRET BEHIND THE KING’S ILLNESS; Al-Jarida Al-Oula’s Bouchra Edaou, citing an anonymous medical source, reported the cause of the king’s rotavirus infection as the abuse of corticosteroids to treat asthma; her article further assumptively reported that the king’s illness prompted the cancellation of his scheduled trip to Casablanca and a Ramadan religious conference; the government requested an investigation be conducted and Ali Anouzla, the editor-in-chief of the paper, and Mrs. Edaou were promptly called in to be questioned on the source of their information. Journalists from Al-Ayam and Al-Michaal were also summoned and questioned. Based on accounts by other Moroccan journalists, the government is trying to determine if the journalists used foreign sources who might be harboring ill-designs for Morocco. I don’t see in this a government campaign to squelch dissent. Allegation on the seriousness of the king’s illness could have adverse effects on Morocco ‘stability and economy. The U.S. followed the same course of action when it investigated Judith Miller, a New York Times journalist, on her implication in compromising the identity of Valerie Plame, a covert CIA officer and the wife of former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV. Miller ‘source was no other than I. Lewis Libby, then the Chief of Staff of Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby provided the information to Miller at the behest of Cheney and in retaliation to former Ambassador Wilson’s lack of support to the Bush administration’s efforts against Iraq.

The issue is not comparing outing a CIA operative and the king’s stomach flu; the issue is what constitutes national security level information. Unfortunately, in Morocco, speculation about the king’s health the way Al-Jarida Al-Oula, Al-Ayam and Al-Michaal is tantamount to divulging classified military information.

I agree that the fact remains most efforts by the Moroccan government toward journalists are to squelch dissent. And I agree freedom should be unconditional and freedom of speech should be unhindered. But I also know that ultimate freedom is chimerical and freedom of speech unbridled by a personal conscience and a sense of responsibility is detrimental to society; we cannot, under the banner of freedom of speech, say and write false allegations knowing the end result could very well be aggravating. In the U. S. for instance, the First Amendment is looked at not independently, but through the prism of the fighting-words doctrine.

You would agree, I am sure, that simply by the extent of their influence on the public, the responsibility is even greater on journalists. Disinformation is a cardinal sin serious journalists take extreme measures to avoid – assessing the source’s placement and access, qualifying his/her knowledge, validating the information.

No journalist in Morocco will deny this fact: Al-Jarida Al-Oula, Al-Ayam and Al-Michaal DO NOT have sources with the placement and access required to report the information they published on their pages. Other than what the official communiqué put forth, there is no other information available. We are left with two possibilities: either they are speculating and feeding the public misinformation, or they were being fed information by an entity which has a highly placed source within the king’s entourage. I am going on a limb here and say that the only entity with the savoir-faire, funds, and assets to run that type of operation is an established, government-run, foreign intelligence service. Some in Morocco suspect it’s Spain’s.

We don’t need self-proclaimed serious political newspapers dedicating their front pages to speculate on the king’s every sneeze and cough and divert the public’s attention from grave issues such as the recent utter failures of Morocco’s craven and politically naïve diplomats in addressing the Western Sahara issue. We need an independent media that exercises not self-censorship, but good judgment and selflessness in the conduct of their duties; one that adheres not to Delphic influences, but to personal conscience and unwavering character. Freedom is a greater responsibility; Al-Jarida Al-Oula, Al-Ayam and Al-Michaal demonstrated in this particular case that they could not strap it on and take charge. Let’s hope this is nothing more than a snag.

A. T. B. Copyright © 2009