Over 90 radio and tv channels licence requests received by audio-visual authority

The high authority of audio-visual communication (HACA) has received to date some 90 requests for the creation of new radio and TV channels, announced on Tuesday the authority chairman Ahmed Ghazali.

The authority, set up in August 2002, is currently studying these requests, he said recalling that the state first started to disengage from the audio-visual waves with the creation of Tangiers-based radio "Medi1" and "2M" TV.

The official who was speaking at a meeting on "the media freedom, independence and pluralism in the society of information" held as part of the international follow-up conference to the world summit on the society of information (Marrakech, Nov.22-24) stressed that the decision to liberalize the audio-visual sector in Morocco implies a set of social, cultural and economic stakes in addition to its impact on sustainable development and democratic construction.

For Ghazali, the ongoing democratic construction in Morocco requires the consolidation of decentralization and regionalization by encouraging investments in audio-visual projects at the level of regions. He also stressed that the sector liberalization is expected to drain capital, create new jobs, promote the emergence of a strong national production industry and improve local skills.

However, he went on, the practice of communication freedom should observe the pluralistic nature of ideas and opinions and human dignity, calling professionals to uphold the right to pluralistic and accurate information, service the maximum number of regions and reflect in their programs the plurality and diversity of opinions between political parties, lobbies and associations.

The presentation also noted the importance of audio-visual communication, as a vector of values, in shaping up the collective imaginary of a society, developing arts and culture by accommodating cultural artistic and linguistic plurality.