Abstract: The emergence of the ‘independent’ press in Morocco in the beginning of the 1990s and its considerable thrive throughout 25 years has instigated a lot of debate about the factors and actors behind its inception and the roles it has performed with respect to Moroccan society and politics. At the heart of this article are two fundamental issues: the meaning of press independence in Morocco and the sociopolitical functions which the Moroccan press has performed so far; namely, the assumption that it functioned as political opposition during a certain period in Moroccan post-modern history. The paper critically reviews the main arguments advanced in the literature about these two issues. It buttresses the review with important historical events and testimonies of prominent practitioners and researchers. The paper concludes that according to normative media autonomy, the so-called independent press in Morocco is far from being independent. It also concludes that while the press carried out primordial sociopolitical functions before 2011, post-Arab Spring era has witnessed a conspicuous dumping of these functions.
Keywords: Press, independent, socio-political, political opposition, taboos.
Title: The Moroccan ‘Independent’ Press: Issues of Independence and Political Opposition
Author: Abdelmalek El Kadoussi
International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research
ISSN 2348-3164 (online), ISSN 2348-3156 (Print)
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