Twenty two of Morocco’s leading media owners and editors gathered in London on 25-26 February 2010, to attend a conference and study tour exploring Inclusive Journalism.
The event, organised by the Media Diversity Institute, called “Inclusive Media for Inclusive Societies” is part of a two year programme to support a more responsible and inclusive media in Morocco, funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
The opening session included a keynote speech by Lesley Abdela MBE, UK Woman Political Journalist of the year 2009, and a panel debate on how responsible and inclusive the British media is, particularly in relation to coverage of the Middle East & North Africa and the Muslim community in the UK. The panellists included Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi, Director of Arab Media Watch, Nick Carter from the Society of Editors, James Brandon, from the Quilliam Foundation, and Professor Robert Pinker from the Press Complaints Commission.
The two-day event also included visits to the BBC Diversity Department, BBC Arabic Service, Channel 4 Television, and the Guardian newspaper.
The purpose of the event was to expose Moroccan senior editors to some of the issues facing the UK media in relation to self-regulation, reporting diversity and journalistic ethics.
The participants included: Abdellatif Lambara, Director of Information at Moroccan National Radio (SNRT); Atmane Nejjari, Director of information at Medi 1 Sat TV; Mustapha Khalfi, Director of Attajdid newspaper; Mousa Metrouf, Secretary in Chief of Nichane magazine; and Abdessamad Bencherif, Editor of 2M TV.
Comments from participants at the final wrap up session of the conference included:
“Diversity is not a marginal issue – it is the essence of democracy and the media is a strong player in that.” Mousa Metrouf, Secretary in Chief of Nichane magazine
“This has been a good introduction to the issue of diversity.” Mustapha Khalfi, Director of Attajdid newspaper
“I recommend we develop a Charter for Diversity.” Abdessamad Bencherif, Editor of 2M TV
For more information contact the Media Diversity Institute at info@media-diversity.org
Film Clips from the event
Opening Session: The following short clip gives an overview of the discussions at the opening session of the event. The clip includes insights into the introducion speech by Milica Pesic on the work of the Media Diversity Institute, the keynote speech by Lesley Abdela MBE, and the panel discussion entitled ‘How inclusive is the British Media?’.
Visit to BBC: The following short clip shows the participants visiting the BBC diversity department and Arabic Service, where they discussed the BBC’s diversity policies and coverage of the Middle East & North Africa and Islam.
Visit to Channel 4: The following short clip shows the participants visiting UK Channel 4 Television. During the visit Dorothy Byrne, Head of News and Current Affairs, discussed the channels approach to news coverage, and Jo Taylor, Head of Recruitment, discussed their recruitment policies, aimed at creating a diverse workforce.
Visit to the Guardian: The following short clip shows the participants visiting the Guardian Newspaper in the UK. During the visit, presentations on the newspapers approach to responsible reporting were given by the managing editor, Chris Elliot, and the comment editor, Joseph Harker.