Morocco: ABC helps transparency, not sales

 
"The OJD has benefited the profession insofar as it has enabled us to prove the arguments we put forward. It has raised standards in the profession and promoted greater transparency," says Nasreddine El Afrit, former Secretary General of OJD Morocco.

Another benefit of the OJD is “to gain information on our competitors' sales, giving us some idea of our market position and enabling us to formulate suitable commercial arguments for our sales forces," says Ahmed Réda Benchemsi, Director of the weekly TelQuel.

Unfortunately, it seems the OJD has done little to concretely increase newspapers’ revenues since its creation. "The OJD has changed little for newspapers or the sector," says Khalid Belyazid, Managing Director of L’Economist.

Very few people actually use the OJD he says, and it has done little to change the policies of small and big players alike.

“Newspapers like ours that were already trusted by advertisers have been strengthened in terms of their purchases, the smaller players have stopped bluffing about their sales, but continue to be supported by indulgent advertisers," he adds.

In any case, most newspaper actors are satisfied by the fact a Moroccan OJD was actually created. It certified about 20 publications in its first year, thanks to technical assistance from the French OJD. Along with Lebanon, Morocco’s OJD is the only of its kind throughout Africa and the Arab world.

Source: Arab Press Network