Al-Massae
المساء
TypeDaily newspaper
Founder(s)Rachid Niny
Taoufik Bouachrine
Editor-in-chiefAbdallah Damoun
Founded18 September 2006; 17 years ago (2006-09-18)
Political alignmentIndependent
LanguageArabic
HeadquartersCasablanca
WebsiteOfficial website

Al-Massae (Arabic: المساء, romanized: al-masāʾ, lit. 'the evening') is a Moroccan daily newspaper. In April 2012, Al Jazeera described it as "the country's most popular daily".[1]

History and incidents

Al Massae was launched by Rachid Niny, Taoufik Bouachrine, Samir Chaouki and Mohamed Aslifi in September 2006.[2][3] The paper is an independent publication and has no affiliation to the government or any political party.[4][5] It is based in Casablanca.[6]

In October 2008, its publisher and editor Rachid Niny was condemned to pay 6,120,000 dirhams (560,000 euros) for alleged "defamation" and "public injury" for a November 2007 article about the presence of an unnamed judge at an alleged same-sex marriage in Ksar el-Kebir.[7] In November, around 500 persons demonstrated in Rabat against the government and supporting freedom of expression and information.[8] In December, Niny was condemned again to pay 620,000 dirhams for alleged "defamation" and "public injury", accused by the dean of Rabat bar association. This high sanctions compromised the continued publication of the newspaper.[9]

In June 2011, Rachid Niny was sentenced to a year's imprisonment for "disinformation" following his criticism of Moroccan intelligence agencies.[10] The sentence led Amnesty International to designate him a prisoner of conscience.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "Freed Moroccan journalist remains defiant". Al Jazeera. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  2. ^ Morocco - Media Landscape Archived 25 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine Journalism Network, Retrieved 8 October 2013
  3. ^ Morocco Archived 16 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine The Arab Press Network. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  4. ^ Wes Herrmann (10 December 2013). "Al-Massae Newspaper and Richard Niny". PSU. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  5. ^ Loubna H. Skalli (2011). "Constructing Arab Female Leadership Lessons from the Moroccan Media". Gender & Society. 25 (475): 473–495. doi:10.1177/0891243211411051. S2CID 145483355.
  6. ^ "Media landscape. Morocco". Menasset. Archived from the original on 15 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  7. ^ De nuevo condenan a una severa multa al periódico marroquí 'Al-Massae' El Mundo, 4 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Cientos de personas se manifiestan contra la multa al director del diario 'Al Massae' El Mundo, 15 November 2008 (in Spanish)
  9. ^ Nueva multa contra el director del diario marroquí 'Al Massae' El Mundo, 1 December 2008 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Martin Jay (10 June 2011). "Leading Moroccan journalist is sentenced to one year in prison". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
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