About Magharebia.com
Published by BO18 on - 2/18/2007I have been addicted for a while now to Magharebia.com
It is a superb English-language news-site, especially after Morocco-times closed down.
The design of the site is OK, not the usual "mystic north-african" design that is so common nowadays (ie no moroccan lamps, weird letter-fonts etc.)
I also love the fact that they have a weekly report on what was/is happening in the Maghreb-blogosphere.
And the quality of their own articles is just good (most of the times)
But as you all might know, the site is sponsored by the US European Command (USEUCOM)
I didn't know this, I just started actively using it when I started this blog (just over a month now)
Anyhow, I wondered how well received this site is in the Moroccan and Maghreb blogosphere?
The site caters news in Arabic, French and English. So I guess that its accessible for every blogger out there.
I know that some (if not most) of the more literate maghrebi's are allergic for everything thats sponsored by the US government. (think Sawa, Al Hurra etc)
They mostly believe in this big conspiracy of brainwashing and preparing us for a new military intervention blablabla. The usual.
So I guess that Magharebia.com won't be their first choice as news-site. They'll probably rely on other news-sources (like for instance their own governments or government-sponsored France24, BBC-World etc etc)
French-language bloggers have a big choice of "independent" news-sources. So I guess they dont give a damn about Magharebia and its background.
But for us English-language bloggers it a different situation.
We have almost no other options then Magharebia. We can use news-wires like AP, AFP, Reuters etc, but that is such a hassle. Magharebia is more convenient.
But do you keep its sponsors in mind when you read the content? Just wondering you know.
I actually dont care who the site is sponsored by. As long as they are the only ones who bring me daily Maghreb-news in English, I'll stick by them.
And last time I checked I had brains and I could evaluate things independently. The site is good for basic news and blogosphere reviews.
I just wish that the site could be a little bit more organized.
Separate country-pages, more categories in the sidebar (instead of only news and sport)
And it couldn't do harm either if the person behind the podcast actually stops when there is a full-stop in the transcript.
Sometimes it sounds like the podcast is one big sentence, while its not.
But the fact that there is a podcast, is very admirable. Loooove the podcast!
But since you’re talking about magharebia, I wanted to share my experience with you.
I never cared whether they were powered by X or Y, but here is what happened with them,
http://manal.over-blog.com/article-5297932-6.html#anchorComment
Have you noticed that most of the post comments on the blog are from people with "Moroccan" names (I mention their names because they could be of Moroccan origin like you, but living in or having grown up in another country)?
They seem low-budget though, which I think is a positive thing. I trust their news much more than the only other English source, Maghreb Arab Presse (Morocco's state-owned paper) - www.map.ma/eng
Plus, I like Magharebia because they've mentioned my blog in their roundup!
I read what happenend to you and that journalist from Magharebia. (it took me sometime 'cause my french isn't that good anymore)
But I guess that always happens. Some journalists/editors or bloggers aren't that trustworthy as others.
Btw, did they put any rectification up?
@ Taamarbuuta
Oeh Map is yuck. The site crashes on me all the time and its completely state-owned so extra yuck.
Maybe I just have to pick up on my french.
@manal,
I agree with BO18, mistakes happen. magharebia corrected it almost immediately when they realized there was an error, if I remeber correctly. What more do you want? I say get over i and move on.
Mohamed Taif
Thank you for your nice comment ;)
@ Mohammed
Another expat/immigrant. Does Magharebia know that their site is so popular under expats/immigrant?
It would be nice to include a kind of monthly special report or so on Moroccan immigrees