By Ahmed Jalali
Qatar's Al Jazeera Channel has terminated the duties of Moroccan broadcaster Abdessamad Nasser. This decision caused mixed reactions, but Moroccans generally tended to have innate sympathy for the "victim" and accused the channel of acquiescing to an Algerian "lobby" who would have an interest in removing a prominent Moroccan face in a channel that is considered an intercontinental media cannon
Nowadays, everything that happens finds more reasonable reasons to adopt a conspiracy theory than "rational" reasons to understand or account for what has happened and will keep happening.
The
Moroccan Press Syndicate rushed to issue a communiqué that ended with the
accusation of "Al-Jazeera" and described the decision to abandon
Nasser as an arbitrary expulsion decision that "harms the credibility of
Al-Jazeera", empties its slogans related to freedom of expression and
publication, the independence of the journalist and the defense of his dignity
of its content, and turns it into empty slogans."
We
would have liked to respond to the Syndicate with what it has to do first, here
and right now , to tackle urgently the deep problems of the Moroccan journalists at home,
but this would not be the right occasion to do so, anyway .
It
is not strange or shameful that lobbies, including the Moroccan lobby, if any,
are fighting to establish themselves in all sensitive and influential
international bodies and institutions such as Al-Jazeera.
Nasser
and others like him can be proud if they really worked within or for a Moroccan
lobby that serves the interests of the nation, and on top of these interests is
territorial integrity cause. However, we do not claim to have any evidence that
Abdel Samad Nasser was part of this ” lobby”.
Beyond
emotions, Al Jazeera as an institution has the right to terminate contracts
with its employees whenever it wishes, it should only grant the dismissed
professionals their full rights, and it is incumbent upon us to support Nasser
and others in case they are victims, whether in foreign institutions or in
Morocco.
Now
that what happened has happened, those who believe that Nasser has enough
experience and expertise to be a national media figure - and we think he has enough of that - should
call on the Moroccan state to welcome him to his homeland, not only with cold
words, but with action/answer.
It
will not be easy for Nasser to go down from the screen of a giant channel to
"Any TV" and work as any employee. This is the dilemma of media work,
especially for those who have progressed in tasks up to the end of the ceiling.
In
Morocco, unfortunately, the higher your professionalism and your creativity are,
the harder it is for you to find a job: organizations fear you and pretend not
to be able to pay a salary worthy of your profile.
That
is what they pretend but the truth is somewhere else for sure because high
standards of professionalism frighten the untalented responsibles; and this is
almost a rule in media and other sectors.
If
the Moroccan state is sure and has no doubts that "our son" Abdel
Samad Nasser was directly wronged by Al Jazeera with the tricks or pressures of
opponents and enemies, the Moroccan officials will not lack ways of appropriate
responses.
The
appointment of Nasser Abdel Samad as director general of the official media
pole instead of Fayssal Araichi, whose retirement time has come and even
delayed, on the condition that Nasser should be given the necessary margin to
develop and change this vital national field.
We
are well aware that the Moroccan media has competencies scattered abroad and others
who suffer twice at home, yet the idea of investing them all in establishing a
Moroccan international channel remains a mere wishful thinking.
If
the Moroccan state had established a channel like Al Jazeera with enough funding,
this would never have been a guarantee of success and competition on the global
scale.
Because
the media is not only money investing. it’s a soul before being an equipment. The pillars of journalism are freedom
and the independence of the editorial line, as it is practiced universally and defined
theoretically.
This is not currently available in Morocco,
mainly because that requires a courageous political decision that believes in
the highly minded principles of the Press as a message and am art.
I
do not mean here that the state will spends billions for a large project without
waiting for services in return, this would be foolish, absurd and impossible,
but I mean to provide the largest possible margin of professionalism and
freedom in dealing with events and covering them.
The Moroccan wisdom says that when the skilled
cook enters with strangers in the kitchen, the meals in the end are tasteless
and odorless.
For
young people who dream of a career in journalism, I would like to give the
advice of an professional who has worked at home and abroad and received his
wages in fragile and hard currencies:
Never
consider journalism all your concern or knowledge. Don’t devote your life to
it
After
graduation, work in the beginning anywhere, accumulate experience, and do not
pay attention to the size of the compensation.
If you
are lucky to get a rewarding job, save your money for hard times of unemployment
after dismissal.
Learn
other skills parallel to journalism, as it is a profession of transit and not a
job of stable income to establish your life on.
In
the end, I wish our colleague Nasser to overcome psychologically what happened
to him and to know that permanence belongs to God that men pass by and chairs
remain where they are.
I also hope, from the heart, that Nasser saved
enough money to live a happy life, as poverty has always been the enemy of dignity.