Rabat - The Maghreb Arab Press Agency (MAP) and the Mauritanian Press Agency (AMI) signed, here Thursday, a new partnership agreement to further promote their cooperation relations. Signed by MAP Director-General, Fouad Arif, and AMI Director-General, Mokhtar Malal Dia, this agreement is meant to promote fruitful multifaceted cooperation, which reflects the excellent relations between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Concluded on the sidelines of AMI Director-General's visit to MAP headquarters, this agreement provides for the exchange of information and multimedia content, photos, videos, audios and infographics between the two agencies. Both agencies will also promote the exchange of experiences between their respective editorial staff and marketing and sales departments, as well as in terms of human resources management and information systems, by organizing visits and training sessions for journalists, administrative and technical managers, as well as information technolog y specialists. They also coordinate their action at regional and multilateral platforms as well as within the professional federations of which they are members. This agreement will promote the exchange of expertise and information, as well as the management of the two institutions' human resources, Arif said. This agreement is of great importance as it comes at a time when the media sector is facing several challenges linked, in particular, to the resurgence of media disinformation and fake news, he underlined, calling for pooling the two agencies' efforts to take up these challenges. MAP Director-General also stressed that this agreement is not only a big step towards consolidating cooperation between the two agencies, but also marks a new era of media cooperation between Morocco and Mauritania. For his part, Malal Dia expressed AMI's willingness and commitment to promote coordination relations with MAP, to reach new horizons. This agreement is a new benchmark for cooperation between the two countries in media, and reflects AMI's willingness to build on MAP experience regionally and continentally, he stressed. Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse
Network of African Press Agencies Fact-Checkers Journalists Created in Rabat
Rabat - Participants in the seminar organized by the Atlantic Federation of African Press Agencies (FAAPA) on the theme "Fact-Checking: Detection of fake news in media content", announced Thursday in Rabat, the creation of the Network of African Press Agencies Fact-Checkers Journalists (RJF-FAAPA). This Network, whose creation was announced at the ceremony to award certificates to seminar participants, presided over by FAAPA president and MAP Director General Fouad Arif, is intended as a structure for concerted, effective and serious work by FAAPA member agencies in the fight against disinformation. It promotes the setting up of a framework for journalists, enabling them to create a platform specialized in the verification of news and multimedia content, as well as the development of a guide to fact-checking with a view to making it available to journalists from African press agencies. The members of this Network, who have expressed their determination to forge ahead with the mutualization of efforts in th e fight against fake news, will contribute within their respective newsrooms to the implementation of information verification techniques, and will help strengthen coordination between FAAPA members in this field. In a statement to MAP, RJF-FAAPA coordinator Jean Bedel Ndandula, from the Congolese Press Agency, praised the great commitment shown by the seminar's trainers and participants to the topics covered, including theoretical and practical workshops on fact-checking methodology, ways of combating disinformation and fact-checking tools and techniques. 'Creating this network is a first. It is a scientific fraternity that is emerging and also a great challenge because FAAPA press agencies will now fight together against disinformation for democracy and peace in Africa ", underlined Ndandula. Cameroonian journalist and media expert Xavier Messé A Tiati, who took part in the seminar as a trainer, said that the technological advances and professionalism of the Maghreb Arab News Agency are "unique" in Afric a, emphasizing MAP's constant concern to share its experience and expertise with FAAPA member press agencies. "Morocco has always been keen to help African countries in the fields of health, security and the economy. Today, within the framework of FAAPA, this sharing of experience is taking place in the field of information and journalism", noted Tiati. The five-day seminar, attended by 24 journalists from FAAPA member press agencies, covered various aspects of the chosen theme, including "the history of the spread of fake news and the emergence of Fact-checking", "the objectives and challenges of Fact-checking", "Fact-checking tools and techniques" and "Fact-checking methodology". Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse
Royal Navy Assists 85 Sub-Saharan Would-Be Migrants Off Dakhla
Rabat - A Royal Navy patrol boat assisted, on Thursday 380 km Southwest off Dakhla, a pirogue in difficulty carrying 85 Sub-Saharan would-be migrants. The would-be migrants were intending to reach the Canary Islands, the General Staff of the Royal Armed Forces said in a press release. The rescued people received first aid onboard before being taken to the Port of Dkhila (South of Dakhla) and handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie for the usual administrative procedures, the same source noted. Source: Agence Marocaine De Presse