The last round table of the day gathered on “Media and the image of Morocco abroad” gatherd journalists gathered Mr Zouhir Louassini (Italy), Ms Fadoua Massat (USA), Mr Anas Bouslamti (United Arab Emirates), Mr Mustapha Tossa (France) and Nabil Bouhajra who responded to Mr Mohammed Saibari (journalist/CCME).
Mr Mohamed Saibari spoke about the importance of journalism which must be included to judge the content of cultural materials trasmitted by the media in Morocco and abroad.
Ms Fadoua Massat, a journalist in Washington and founder of the electronic platform “Maghreb voices” which aims to promote Maghreb cultures in the United States, said in her intervention that “the representations of Moroccan culture in the USA remain « folkloric » adding : “the cultural activities organized by Moroccan institutions do not really demonstate the diversity and real value of our culture through litterature or artistic creations “.
For his part, the journalist Anas Bouslamti said, in the United Arab Emirates, that “culture is the best way to break down stereotypes about Moroccan migration”.
Mr Anas Bouslamti also explains that “the medias In the Middle East, cannot answer to all the cultural expectations of Moroccans adding that “the Moroccan culture is restricted in these countries”.
Mr Mustapha Tossa, a French-moroccan Journalist since 30 years, says for his part : “Morocco enjoys an extraordinary image in European countries through the stability of the country and its cultural richness. Our monarchical regime and the open and human warmth of the people have a positive image in European societies “. But, Mr Tossa adds, that the image of Morocco “has unfortunately been obscured by the terrorist attacks in Europe ».
Mr Zouhir Louassini said for his part, that “the promotion of our culture in the editorial offices of foreign media can be seen as being non neutral”, since “the journalist’s mission has to be impartial describing current events”. Mr Louassini also said that « we have to define the contours and what we want to promote about the Moroccan culture ». Speaking about Italy, he says “the Moroccan migration in Italy is not well accepted in Italy ».
For his part, Mr Nabil Bouhajra who is administrator of the East Maghreb region at the French television TV5 World, says,” I want to focus on the Moroccan culture by keeping in mind my objectivity and impartiality towards 21 other countries that I manage in my region,” he explained. affirming that “as a French-Moroccan, I am trying to show more positive things about Morocco”.
For Nabil Bouhajra, “Morocco is lucky to have 5 million Moroccan ambassadors who keep in life the moroccan culture and traditions in the host societies”.
CCME
