"The qualification of the regional press, state of play and perspectives" is the theme of a scientific symposium organised on Friday in Oujda by the regional directorate of the Ministry of Communication on the occasion of the National Day of Civil Society.

Participants in this meeting, organised in partnership with the Higher School of Technology of Oujda (ESTO), stressed that the regional press represents a structuring means of democracy and a tool that allows for addressing the concerns of citizens.

The Director of Communication and Public Relations at the directorate, Badiaa Khaddad, stressed that this meeting aims to examine and debate news related to the regional press, noting that regional actors have been able to make a place for themselves on the media scene since the 1970s by playing a decisive role in the collection and transmission of local information.

For his part, the Regional Director of the Ministry of Communication for the Oriental region, Jamal Salhi, stressed that holding this type of meeting aims to approach issues concerning the means of financing the local press, the relationship between the press and local authorities, or even the nature of the media enterprise.

With a view to putting in place a common and global media strategy with the participation of economic, media, associative, and academic actors in the region, the regional directorate has drawn up a roadmap that focuses on training, support for media enterprises and audiovisual professionals, support for institutional communication, strengthening research and study capacities, in addition to the preparation of periodic reports on the image of Morocco in the regional press.

For his part, university professor Benyounes Marzouki stressed that strengthening the skills of the regional press is now an urgent necessity that requires the implementation of sufficient means so that it can assume the role incumbent upon it, advocating the adoption of a fair legal arsenal and the development of the publication and distribution system.

The professor of legal and political sciences at ESTO, Zahr Dine Taibi, stressed for his part that the development of the regional press is dependent on its commitment as a citizen press that strengthens the country's democratic and institutional process.

Zahr Dine Taibi also reviewed the state of play of the regional press, which faces a series of organisational problems, in addition to difficulties linked to the absence of public support, the insufficiency of advertising, the failure of distribution, the lack of printing houses, the absence of a training programme, and the decline in readership.