Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers protests rejection of 69 media files

The Moroccan Federation of Newspaper Publishers has denounced a decision by the Provisional Committee for the Management of the Press and Publishing Sector to reject 69 out of 74 applications submitted by its member companies. These applications were intended to nominate publishers to the National Press Council.

The Federation, led by President Mohtat Regass, described the move as a “massacre of pluralism” and a systematic attempt to exclude independent voices and control the self-regulatory body. The rejected files include several of Morocco’s most established media outlets, such as “Al Alam”, “L'Opinion”, “Al Bayan”, and “Bayan Al Yaoum”, as well as various regional and Sahrawi news sites.

The Federation reported a “surreal” administrative process, noting that while the Committee initially recognized the Federation as a qualified organization, it later demanded additional documentation for all 69 files within a very tight deadline. Despite the Federation submitting the requested documents and receiving receipts, the Committee ultimately approved only five applications. The Federation argued that many of the excluded companies meet all official requirements, including public funding criteria, and criticized the Committee's reliance on administrative technicalities to disqualify long-standing media institutions.