The real thing

God favors that spot in particular.

I was sort of hoping that my rushed life of deadlines and meetings would slow down a bit and that I would adapt to lax "Moroccan time." Quite the contrary.

Between Arabic homework, class readings, fascinating lectures from the most interesting people, interviews, attending protests and press conferences and having coffee/tea with the most inspiring, passionate and entertaining people in the Moroccan media scene I am busy. Blogging is not a priority, but I've found the time just now. The life of a journalist does not offer much time for R&R, but it does offer a chance to see the world, meet every kind of person and most of all - live an adventure.


As I learn more and more about the complexities of Moroccan politics, the reality of the not-so-free (an understatement) media landscape in Morocco, the red-lines and taboo topics, and the way everything ties back to a certain royal figure the more I'm drawn into this world. The reality is this country has strong ties to the west and thus maintains a liberal image without truly offering any of the democratic privileges usually associated - especially to the media. It's far too complicated to explain here, but it is something else to be able to practice journalism in this environment, especially as a student.

The way home. 

There's no end to potential stories here. It is truly under reported. There are too few journalists and too little freedom. Publishing real, independent journalism in Arabic and sometimes French will make powerful enemies. There are far too many examples.

But we're publishing in English so it's probably OK. In journalism, we learn best by doing so during our time here some of our work will be published on Reporting Morocco, our student-run publication. Others might end up in mainstream western outlets.

For one of our field trips we took the train to Casablanca to visit Le Desk, a ballsy new media publication in Morocco. Their website is set to go live Monday. This publication is unique in that it's business model, pay-to-read, avoids advertising boycotts imposed on previous publications that the shadowy part of the government did not fancy. One form of that indirect harassment I mentioned.

I just had coffee with a couple other students and Omar Radi, one of the journalists there. Great dude. Crazy, funny and willing to take an hour to just talk with us. The other day I had an interview with Samia Errazzouki, another journalist here who is known for reporting on one of the big red-lines - W. Sahara. Meeting the pioneers of media under a less than friendly regime is inspiring to say the least. I'm kind of rambling here but that's what happens on a blog, right?

Local life is as interesting as ever. Bales of hay and barbecue sticks are being sold everywhere in the market in preparation for the Eid sacrifice festival next week. I'll write more about that later, I'm sure. I'll have a sheep for a roommate for a couple days.

As always, it's an amazing time to be alive. If you're still reading, I'm still writing.

-Simeon