VZCZCXRO3814
RR RUEHROV
DE RUEHRB #0307/01 0991351
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 091351Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9966
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0432
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 0055
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1073
RUEHDK/AMEMBASSY DAKAR 0490

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RABAT 000307 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR R, NEA/PPD, NEA/MAG, IIP/G/NEA/SA, 
ECA/PE/V, ECA/PE/C AND PA/OBS/BS&P (SANTULLI) 
LONDON FOR MOC 
DUBAI FOR MEDIA HUB 
 
E.0.12958: N/A 
TAGS: SCUL PHUM PGOV OIIP KISL KPAO KIRC
KMPI, MO 
SUBJECT: Moroccan TV coverage of U.S. elections 
highlights Arab-American political participation 
 
------------------- 
Summary and Comment 
------------------- 
 
¶1.  For the first time in history, in 2008 a 
Moroccan television crew traveled to the U.S. to 
cover the presidential elections, providing 
Moroccans a nightly, first-hand glimpse into the 
American electoral process tailored to their 
interests.  Over the course of ten nights, state-run 
Al-Aoula television aired almost one hour of total 
prime-time news coverage on the elections, in both 
Arabic and French; the reportage was also aired on 
Al-Aoula's satellite network, Al Maghribiya, which 
is widely watched by the Moroccan community abroad, 
particularly in Europe.  The stories featured many 
facets of the campaign, Election Day, and the 
results, providing interviews and footage of 
experts, politicians, journalists, candidate 
staffers and voters, with a particular focus on the 
Arab-, Muslim-, and particularly Moroccan-American 
communities.  Focus on the election's impact on the 
lives of Moroccan-Americans was an especially 
effective means of driving home the importance of 
participatory governance and the sheer excitement of 
the democratic process.  This coverage was the fruit 
of an Embassy-organized television cooperative 
project funded out of the FY08 PD supplemental.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Historic Elections Coverage by Moroccan 
Television Caps Major Mission Effort 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  This project represented the first time that a 
Moroccan television channel ever sent a crew to 
cover an American election; Moroccan television 
networks usually hire freelancers based in the U.S. 
to comment on such major events via teleconference. 
Moreover, this TV coop enabled Al-Aoula to cover not 
only Election Day itself, but also the final days of 
the electoral campaign and two days following the 
announcement of the results.  The project also 
supported the participation of a young journalism 
trainee, who ended up feeding stories in French that 
were as professional as those of her Arabic-speaking 
colleague. 
 
¶3.  Al-Aoula's nightly news broadcasts are the most 
popular source of news for Moroccans among all 
available domestic sources, with upwards of thirteen 
million nightly viewers (roughly one-third the 
population of the country).  Al-Aoula aired a total 
of thirty news clips as part of the project, for a 
combined fifty minutes of air time. 
 
¶4.  The U.S. Mission in Morocco sent five Moroccan 
journalists ? four print and one radio ? on Foreign 
Press Center (FPC) elections reporting tours in 
2008, in addition to funding this TV coop.  Post 
also organized numerous interviews locally with 
official and private Americans.  This substantially 
contributed to voluminous, first-hand coverage of 
the U.S. elections in all branches of the Moroccan 
media.  A large plurality ? likely even a majority ? 
of Moroccans were exposed to this coverage, given 
unprecedented Moroccan interest this year in the 
American elections process.  With local elections 
coming up in Morocco in June 2009, such exposure to 
the values and procedures of democracy could not 
have been better timed. 
 
¶5. Post funded this project through a grant to 
Meridian International, using FY08 PD supplemental 
funds.  The Moroccan crew ? two journalists and a 
cameraman ? conducted filming over the course of two 
weeks in November 2008, working with a producer, 
contracted by Meridian International, with whom post 
had worked on a previous TV coop.  They visited 
Washington, DC, New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and 
Michigan. 
 
RABAT 00000307  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
--------------------- 
Covering the Campaign 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. Al-Aoula visited the headquarters of the Council 
for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), most of whose 
members expressed their admiration for Obama's 
domestic policy plans.  Concerning international 
relations, an interviewee expected that Obama would 
build new alliances.  "He inspires hope and change," 
said another CAIR staffer.  CAIR director Daoud 
Walid stressed the formal neutrality of the 
organization, saying that "many people are choosing 
Obama because they are anti-McCain, and not 
necessarily because they like Obama." 
 
¶7. In another report, Al-Aoula noted that the Arab- 
American community was never previously as engaged 
in the presidential elections as it was in 2008. 
The team visited Dearborn, Michigan, home to one of 
the most important Arab communities in the U.S. 
Many people in this area expressed their intention 
to vote for Obama. "He is closer to the people and 
he promised to decrease taxes," one shopkeeper 
stated.  Many Dearborn NGOs were engaged in a get- 
out-the-vote campaign, organizing workshops.  Al- 
Aoula reported that there are more than three 
million Arabs in the United States, and their vote 
was very important given their concentration in key 
swing states.  Al-Aoula visited the Arab American 
National Museum in Detroit to illustrate the 
historical importance of Arab identity in American 
history. 
 
¶8. Al-Aoula?s crew dedicated several of its stories 
to the views of the Moroccan-American community in 
particular.  Adil Naji, head of a Moroccan-American 
friendship association in Michigan, told Al-Aoula 
that Moroccans were ready more than ever to vote. 
He explained that Obama's African origins were 
appealing to Moroccans.  Amine Souissi, a chef in 
Silver Spring, MD who had spent seventeen years in 
the U.S., expressed concern about the economic 
crisis and its impact on his business. He said the 
new president's priority should to help citizens get 
through the recession. 
 
¶9. The crew attended a McCain campaign rally in 
Pennsylvania, interviewing supporters about their 
reasons for supporting McCain over Obama. The crew 
attended a similar rally in Virginia, focusing on 
vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. 
 
¶10. Al-Aoula also reported on the international 
media frenzy that accompanied the elections, with 
more than 4,000 international media outlets 
providing coverage.  The 2008 elections were 
important not only because they would determine the 
president of the most powerful nation in the world; 
it had become an interesting story because of the 
tight race between the candidates. "It has been a 
wild campaign," a France24 journalist stated.  Al- 
Aoula also reported on the unprecedented amount of 
money collected and spent by the candidates, noting 
in particular the immense amount spent by the Obama 
campaign on television spots. 
 
------------ 
Election Day 
------------ 
 
¶11. On Election Day, Al-Aoula explained the vagaries 
of the American electoral system, and in particular 
the Electoral College and the importance of swing 
states like Florida and Ohio.  The reporter later 
followed some voters inside one of Virginia's voting 
centers.  Al-Aoula outlined the problems that could 
occur during the vote count, reviewing the confusion 
following the Bush/Gore elections.  Al-Aoula 
reminded viewers that many other elections were 
taking place at the same time, such as for the 
 
RABAT 00000307  003 OF 003 
 
 
Senate. 
 
¶12. Al-Aoula aired an interview on Election Day with 
Jean Pierre Filieu, professor at Georgetown 
University, on polling.  He noted that the polls had 
been favorable to Obama over the final weeks of the 
campaign, but the difference between the two 
candidates had remained very small.  The economic 
crisis seemed to be the primary concern for most 
Americans, he said, which seemed to favor the 
Democrats. 
 
¶13. Al-Aoula covered the election returns from the 
home of a Moroccan-American family in Virginia. 
Several generations watched the results come in 
state by state, erupting in joy at the announcement 
of Obama's election.  The father reacted by saying 
it was high time for change. 
 
JACKSON