Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki

Founded in 1983, Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki, an Arabic-language daily newspaper, is the official media outlet of the party of the same name: the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, which also owns the French-language Libération). Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki was created to replace Al Moharir, an influential outlet of the Moroccan left, after it was banned by the regime in June 1981.

The 1990s were a time where this news outlet reached record sales. Its historic numbers included the issues where it covered the ‘Tabit scandal’, a story that involved Police Superintendent Tabit in a prostitution scandal who was later sentenced to death. Its popularity was primarily due to its editorial line that was committed to defending the need for a democratic transition in Morocco and its stance against the first Gulf War and in defence of the Palestinian cause.

At the time of political power changes and the negotiated entrance in the government of Prime Minister Youssoufi, from the left-wing opposition party USFP, this outlet ceased its publishing overtly critical stances. This has propmted many of its journalists to abandon the newspaper, amongst them its historical Director, journalist Mohamed El Brini, who in 1998 founded Al Ahdat Al Maghribia.

In the current context, where the party USFP has been annihilated on the political scene, Al Ittihad Al Ichtiraki finds it difficult to compete with Arabic-language outlets such as Al Akhbar, Al Massae or Assabah.