Media Pluralism

Is the Moroccan media landscape concentrated and if yes, how strongly? How well does the current law safeguard media pluralism? What are the greatest risks to a diverse media coverage that includes all voices, all viewpoints, including criticism of people in power? These ten indicators shed some light on the risks that independent media faces and could put media pluralism in Morocco in jeopardy.

Media Audience Concentration

HIGH

Media Market Concentration

NO DATA

Regulatory Safeguards: Media Ownership Concentration

HIGH

Cross-media Ownership Concentration

LOW

Regulatory Safeguards: Cross-media Ownership Concentration

MEDIUM TO HIGH

Ownership Transparency

MEDIUM TO HIGH

Regulatory Safeguards: Ownership Transparency

MEDIUM

(Political) Control Over Media Outlets and Distribution Networks

LOW

(Political) Control Over Media Funding

MEDIUM TO HIGH

Regulatory Safeguards: Net Neutrality

LOW TO MEDIUM

Transparency

A bit of light, many shades of grey

Transparency is the best tool to fight corruption and to disclose conflict of interests. In addition, detailed ownership information is indispensable for evaluating market concentration or and avoiding monopolies: when owners manage to hide behind complex corporate structures, it becomes difficult or even impossible to assess their overall influence in the media market and beyond...

Advertising

Who pays the piper...

In Morocco, there is a significant lack of transparency when it comes to the advertising market. The absence of a transparent and well-established mechanism to distribute state as well as private-businesses advertising contributes to creating a shadowy market. As such, popular and successful publications can be – and in fact have been boycotted by the industry...

Audience measurement

A currency in question

As in most other countries, audience data is crucial for a functioning market and plays a determining role in the decision process of advertisers. In Morocco, this rule does not seem to apply to the print sector that apparently responds to a different set of rules...

Media under control

Depending on life support

Despite the opening of the broadcasting sector and the diversification of the press with the apparition of new outlets and the growth of the online sector, a large part of the media sector has remained under the control of key economic players...