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2020 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

11. The Algerian Press: Deregulation Under Pressure—The New Forms of Control or the “Invisible Hand” of the State

Author : Cherif Dris

Published in: The Independence of the News Media

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

In Algeria, the printed press was owned by the State until the 1990 Information Code was promulgated, thus giving the authorisation to create private press companies. Tens of newspapers were then founded, owned by entrepreneurs or journalists’ cooperatives, and competed with those newspapers that were still owned by the State. In this chapter, Cherif Dris studies the paradoxical liberalisation of the Algerian press market, based on the systemic approach of Daniel C. Hallin and Paolo Mancini, which links four variables that prevented the media field from being isolated from other social fields, particularly political and economic. These variables are the market, the alignment of the press with the political field, the role of the state and the professionalisation of journalists.

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previous chapter A Conditional Offer: The Strategies Employed in the Field of Power in Morocco to Control the Press Space

next chapter Tunisian Post-2011 Private Presses: Economic and Political Mutations

This text is partly the result of the workshop on Private press economies in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region. Cases of printed and electronic press organised and financed by Labex ICCA and the IRMC in Tunis on 15 and 16 October 2016. The author would like to thank Dominique Marchetti and Abdelfettah Benchena for their precious advice and comments during this work. He would also like to thank the anonymous readers of the journal as well as those who helped him in any way to complete this work.

For studies on the electronic press in France, see for example: Jean-Marie Charon (2010); Nicolas Pélissier (2003); Franck Rebillard (2002, 2007); Éric Dagiral and Sylvain Parasie (2010); Nikos Smyrnaios (2009).

Algeria is not the only country that has nationalised the means of information production. Tunisia has also experimented with this scheme. In this respect, see Larbi Chouikha (1995).

During the period of the single party, the ministry in charge of the media was called the Ministry of Information. When Hamrouche was appointed head of the Algerian government in 1989, he abolished this ministry and replaced it with the Higher Council for Information. Currently, the structure in charge of media and communication is called the Ministry of Communication. Moreover, “communication” was combined with “culture” in the 1990s during the economic and financial crisis.

Interview with Omar Belhouchet, editor of the daily El Watan, 18/03/2017.

Interview with O. Belhouchet, 18/03/2017.

Other journalists belonging to other state bodies such as Horizons, Algérie Actualités, Echaab and La Radio were persuaded to accept the challenge. Some owners of private newspapers, such as Benchicou du Matin (disbanded in 2004), were members of the editorial staff of El Moudjahid, as were Kamel Belkacem, founder of the Quotidien d’Algérie and Kheiredine Ameyar, who died on 8 June 2000, founder of La Tribune, and who was a journalist at Algérie Actualité. As for Soir d’Algérie, its founders were mainly from Horizon, such as Farid Boughanem, Zoubir Souissi and Amar Bedrena.

Organic Act no. 12-05 of 18 Safar 1433 corresponding to 12 January 2012 on information (JORA no. 02 of 15 January 2012). Access: http://www.joradp.dz/FTP/JO-FRANCAIS/2012/F2012002.pdf.

Ministère de la Communication, Les Cahiers de la Communications, pp. 73-74. Access: http://www.ministerecommunication.gov.dz/fr/node/1202.

The print runs of the daily El Watan were provided to us by O. Belhouchet, El Watan’s Chief Editor, during our interview (18/03/2017).

Zahra Rahmouni, “Tirage: les chiffres de la presse écrite algérienne en nette baisse” [“Circulation: the figures of the Algerian printed press in sharp decline], TSA. Access: http://www.tsa-algerie.com/20160503/tirage-chiffres-de-presse-ecrite-algerienne-nette-baisse. Consulted on 05/10/2016.

On the decline of circulation in Morocco, see the article by A. Benchenna, D. Ksikes and D. Marchetti in this book.

Source: http://www.mediasurvey-dz.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/rapport1-2016_presse_novembre.pdf.

The figure for the number of agencies in the private sector was provided by Djamel Kiouane, CEO of Anep, in an interview with the government daily Horizon on 03/05/2016 (p. 6).

These main operators are mentioned by Belkacem Ahcen-Djabellah. Access: http://www.almanach-dz.com/index.php?op=fiche&fiche=4382. Consulted on 23/04/2017.

“Presse: Les journaux captent moins de publicité en Algérie” [“Press: Newspapers receive less advertising in Algeria”]. Access: http://www.immar-intl.com/presse-les-journaux-captent-moins-de-publicite-en-algerie/, 19/06/2015. Consulted on 04/02/2017.

Access: http://www.almanach-dz.com/index.php?op=fiche&fiche=5140. Consulted on 24/03/2017.

Journal Officiel de la République Algérienne, n^o 16, 23/03/2014.

Executive Decree no. 16-222 of 11/08/2016, concerning the general specifications laying down the rules applicable to any television or sound broadcasting service.

“Presse: Les journaux captent moins de publicité en Algérie” [Newspapers get less advertising in Algeria], art. cit.

Meriem Elouaar, “Le marché publicitaire estimé à 6 milliards de DH en 2013” [The advertising market estimated at DH 6 billion in 2013], Médias 24, 07/02/2014. Access: https://www.medias24.com/MEDIAS-IT/8865-Le-marche-publicitaire-estime-a-6-milliards-de-DH-en-2013.html. Friday 7/02/2014 consulted on 16/09/2017.

Interview, Algiers, 19/03/2017.

“Les journaux face à la crise: entretien croisé avec les patrons de La Tribune et de La Nouvelle République” [Newspapers in crisis: joint interview with the owners of La Tribune and La Nouvelle République], 07/03/2016. Access: http://www.tsa-algerie.com/20160307/journaux-face-a-crise-entretien-croise-patrons-de-tribune-de-nouvelle-republique. Consulted on 24/03/2017.

Decree 98-257 of 25 August 1998 authorising private companies to become Internet providers.

Executive Decree no. 2000-307 of 16 Rajab 1421, corresponding to 14 October 2000, amending Executive Decree no 98-257 of 3 Jumada El Oula 1419, corresponding to 25 August 1998, defining the conditions and procedures for the establishment and operation of Internet services.

Access: https://www.mptic.dz/sites/default/files/Decret%20ex%C3%A9%2002-156.pdf. Consulted on 26/03/2017.

Electronic versions of daily newspapers appeared in the late 1990s: El Watan in November 1998, El Khabar in April 1998, Liberté in January 1998, Echaab in June 1998, El Moudjahid in July 1998, Le Matin in October 1998 and Le Soir d’Algérie in November 1998.

The adult literacy rate in Algeria reached 72.6% in 2012, according to statistics provided by UNICEF. Access: https://www.unicef.org/french/infobycountry/algeria_statistics.html. Consulted on 05/03/2017.

Created by officers who called themselves “free officers”, the online information site anp.org provided information on the security situation in Algeria.

Algérie interface a été créée en 2001 par Djamel Ben Ramdan et El Kadi Ihssane, deux anciens journalistes du quotidien La Tribune.

It is important to note that 37.02% of Algerian families own at least one computer, while 31.88% of Algerian families have access to the Internet. Access: http://www.itu.int/net4/ITU-D/idi/2016/#idi2016countrycard-tab&DZA. Consulted on 24/03/2017.

Among the media considered to be critical of the Algerian authorities is the French daily newspaper Libération, whose writings were not to the liking of the Algerian authorities. Another example was the 2004 presidential election, when the correspondent of the newspaper Le Figaro, Arezki Ait-Larbi, reported on a last-minute arrangement between the senior military hierarchy and presidential candidate Abdelaziz Bouteflika, to the detriment of Ali Benflis, the president’s rival in that election. The newspaper was censored in Algeria, but Algerian readers were able to access its content through the electronic version.

Facebook user shares by gender (male/female) in Algeria (February 2014). Source: http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/algeria. Quoted by Ali Sahar (2014).

Figures provided by Abddou Semar, interview, 20/03/2017.

This figure was provided by Nassim Lakhal, editor-in-chief of the Echouroukonline.comwebsite.

According to indicators provided by the Ministry of Posts and Information and Communication Technologies (MPTIC), the number of Internet subscribers is expected to reach 2.26 million by 2015, including 1.83 million for ADSL. Source: https://www.mptic.dz/fr/content/indicateurs-0.

Access: http://www.agenceecofin.com/publicite/2001-25937-algerie-la-publicite-en-ligne-a-atteint-556-milliards-de-dinars-en-2014. Accessed 06/02/2017.

Data on advertising investment by telecommunications companies were provided to us by Medias & Survey. The author would like to thank the people in charge of this firm.

“Le digital bouleverse le marché publicitaire marocain” [Digitisation is revolutionising the Moroccan advertising market], Media Marketing, 30/03/2017. Access: http://www.mediamarketing.ma/article/FGZPGDD/le_digital_bouleverse_le_marchae_publicitaire_marocain.html. Consulted on 16/09/2017.

Organic Act no. 12-05 of 18 Safar 1433 corresponding to 12 January 2012 on information (JORA no. 02 of 15 January 2012). http://www.joradp.dz/FTP/JO-FRANCAIS/2012/F2012002.pdf.

Interview, Algiers, 12/03/2017. A graduate in economics, A. Boukrouh began his career in 2001 as an economic journalist with the Quotidien d’Algérie and then worked in Arabic-speaking Algerian newspapers such as El Bilad, Echouroukand then as a correspondent for some international Arab newspapers. He also worked for the television channel Dzair News and was news director for Numedia News.

Interview, 13/03/2017. A former director of the news website Impact24 and a former member of Soir d’Algérie, T. Hafidh is a self-taught journalist.

Other journalists belonging to other structures, such as Sabqpresse, Algérie 24, Cherchel News and Algérie focus, to mention only the sites within which we investigated, have confirmed the lack of accreditation and the broad freedom to work that they have.

Interview, Algiers, 20/03/2017. A former journalist with El Watan, La Tribune and the private channel El Djazaria, A. Semar was one of the founders of the Nessnews and Special Envoys information sites. He then joined Algérie focus, founded in 2008 by Fayçal Anser. In 2011, Kamel Hedar bought the newspaper, but then withdrew in 2015, leaving A. Semar to manage and edit the paper.

Interview, Algiers, 12/03/2017.

Interview, Algiers, 20/03/2017. Former Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal had instructed all public companies in November last year to stop using social networks and Google for advertising intrusions.

E. K. Ihssane, director of the Maghreb émergentdaily newspaper, Rafik Khnenifsa, director of IT magazine and Younes Grar, ICT expert, pointed out this weakness at a round table discussion held on the sidelines of the seminar entitled “ICT in Algeria: issues and challenges”, organised by the laboratory, Media, social uses and communication (Musc), at the École nationale supérieure de journalisme et de l’information d’Alger on 5 December 2016.

Interview with Rafik Khenifssa, director of the specialised newspaper IT Magazine, Algiers, 08/03/2017. A computer engineer, R. Khenifssa has been a highly motivated journalist since the late 1980s. He worked in particular at Le Jeune Indépendant and La Tribune before launching his own newspaper in 2002.

Extract from President A. Bouteflika’s speech on the occasion of the National Press Day, quoted by Maghreb Emergent, on 22/10/2016. Access: http://www.maghrebemergent.info/actualite/maghrebine/64799-journee-nationale-de-la-presse-bouteflika-critique-la-presse-electronique-et-veut-une-regulation.html. Consulted on 09/09/2017.

A. Ouyahia became Prime Minister again on 15 August 2017, after Abdelmadjid Teboune’s dismissal, three months after his appointment. This dismissal followed the arm wrestling contest he had with businessmen and their leader, namely the head of the Business Leaders Forum (BCF), Ali Haddad.

Press releases and advertising of public companies: L’ANEP, Support Exclusif. Instruction of the Prime Minister, A. Ouyahia dated 18 August 2004. In general, executive decrees, orders, decrees and other legislative texts are public documents that are accessible to citizens via the electronic portals of the various bodies and structures of the Algerian State. However, this instruction was not published, hence the controversy it caused among private press publishers.

Achira Mammeri, “Hamid Grine: “Le ministère ne gère pas la publicité” [The minister is not in charge of advertising], TSA, 06/10/2016. Access: http://www.tsa-algerie.com/20161006/hamid-grine-ministere-ne-gere-publicite/. Consulted on 06/10/2016.

For more details on the advertising given to newspapers supporting the government, see the Rapport Général de l’Instance Nationale pour la Réforme de l’Information & de la Communication [General Report of the National Commission for Information & Communication Reform], 2012. Chapter 2, and in particular the section on advertising, Paragraph 3, p. 65. www.inric.tn/rapports/fr/Pages%20of%20INRIC_Report_final_en_02.pdf.

For the Société d’impression d’Alger alone (SIA), receivables from certain newspapers amount to 100 billion cents (or 7 million euros). The Arabic-language daily Echourouk has accumulated debts of 60 billion cents (nearly €4 million). The CEO of the SIA has denounced the “victimization” of some newspapers with debts of around 100 billion cents (nearly €7 million). Access: https://www.algerie1.com/actualite/le-pdg-de-la-sia-denonce-la-victimisation-de-certains-journaux-dont-les-dettes-avoisinent-les-100-milliards. Consulted on 24/09/2017.

Constitution of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, March 2016. Access: www.joradp.dz.

Article 84 of the Organic Act on Information. Organic Act no. 12-05 of 18 Safar 1433, corresponding to 12 January 2012, on information.

Article 93, ibid.

Article 92, ibid.

The people in charge of the Sawt El Ahrar newspaper are activists within the FLN and some of the party’s senior executives regularly contribute to the newspaper.

Created in 1989, the RCD is a political party with a secular tendency. Its founders are, in their overwhelming majority, activists promoting the Berber cause. The RCD opposed the Islamists of the Islamic Salvation Front, but since 2001 it has experienced internal strife that has led some of its founding members to leave the party, either to join the government or to create another political party. This is particularly true for Amara Benyounes who created his own party, the Algerian People’s Movement (MPA), close to the current rulers.

On the legal issues of some journalists, we can cite, for example, the cases of journalists from the daily El Watan in 1993 who published information on the murder of gendarmes in Ksar el Hirane in the Wilaya of Medea or the newspaper La Tribune, suspended for six months, after its cartoonist journalist Chawki Amar had published a caricature of the national emblem. For more details on this aspect of the issue, see Nassima Ferchiche (2011).

There were nearly 100 journalists murdered between 1993 and 1997. For a fairly detailed analysis of the situation and practice of journalism in Algeria during the 1990s, see Tristan Leperlier (2016).

Ardjoun, S. (2015). Images et symboles de l’insertion des NTIC dans les entreprises de presse en Algérie. La Revue de la communication et du journalisme, 2(3), 45–81.

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Title: The Algerian Press: Deregulation Under Pressure—The New Forms of Control or the “Invisible Hand” of the State
Author: Cherif Dris
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The Independence of the News Media
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-34053-7

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-34054-4

Copyright Year: 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34054-4_11