Le Journal (Morocco)
| Type | Weekly |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | Aboubakr Jamaï |
| Editor-in-chief | Aboubakr Jamaï |
| News editor | Ali Amar |
| Founded | 1997 |
| Political alignment | opposition to Mohammed VI government |
| Language | French |
| Ceased publication | 2010 |
| Headquarters | Casablanca, Morocco |
| Sister newspapers | Assahifa Al Ousbouia |
Le Journal Hebdomadaire (French for The Weekly Journal; often shortened to Le Journal Hebdo) was a French-language, Moroccan weekly magazine, published between 1997 and 2010. It was cofounded by Aboubakr Jamaï, who also co-founded its Arabic-language counterpart, Assahifa Al Ousbouia.
An MBA by training, at age 29 Jamaï moved from finance into financial journalism, helping to found the Casablanca-based Le Journal. The magazine was first published on 17 November 1997. As a model, the paper's creators used the Spanish paper El País because of the way it had started as a weekly paper under Francisco Franco's rule before growing into a media conglomerate.
The journal's circulation was initially small, with the first issue selling only 3,000 copies, primarily to a business audience. However, the journal soon grew by word-of-mouth, attracting a non-business audience and attracting more advertisers. In 1998, Jamaï co-founded an Arabic-language sister publication, Assahifa al-Ousbouiya, designed to appeal to a broader audience.
On 23 July 1999, Hassan II died, and his son Mohammed VI succeeded him to the throne, raising hopes for democratic reform. Le Journal soon became critical of Mohamed's reign, however, particularly his slowness in transforming Morocco into a constitutional democracy. As a result of the critical editorials printed by the paper, Moroccan printers soon refused to do business with it, forcing Jamaï to print in France and pay enormous transportation costs.
In April 2000, Le Journal "crossed a political redline" by printing an interview with Muhammad Abdelaziz, leader of the Saharawi separatist movement Polisario Front that was fighting for the independence of Western Sahara from Morocco. The Moroccan Ministry of Communications responded by banning both Le Journal and Assahifa Al Ousbouia, though the latter had not run the interview in question. A Ministry spokesperson stated that the reasons for the papers' banning were “excesses in [their] editorial line concerning the question of Morocco’s territorial integrity" and "collusion with foreign interets". However, following an outcry from foreign governments and NGOs, the papers were allowed to re-open.
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