Student Writer

Virginity Certificates Persist in Morocco Despite Calls to End a Discriminatory Practice

June 9, 2020 By Student Writer

Photo: Two Moroccan women walk in Oulad Teima, a small town in southern Morocco, where they work in the women’s club. Both obtained virginity certificates when they were younger. They asked to remain anonymous to protect their privacy. Photo by Naomi Miyamoto for Reporting Morocco.

By Lexi Reich

Bouchra, 20, took her “virginity test” when she was only 14, six months before her wedding night. Terrified of the result, tears fell down her cheeks when the doctor instructed her to spread open her legs at a hospital in Boujdour, southern Morocco.

Marrakesh Mother’s Nonprofit Empowers Women

December 8, 2019 By Student Writer

by Rachel Berets

MARRAKESH, MOROCCO—While her own newborn baby slept soundly inside, Nora Fitzgerald found a baby girl, wrapped only in a blanket, abandoned on her doorstep. She brought the baby inside and called the authorities, who took the child away a few hours later. But the next day, Fitzgerald wondered if she had made the right decision. “What if I was supposed to take her?” she asked herself.

“I spent the next day looking in all the orphanages and I couldn’t find her,” Fitzgerald said. “I don’t know what happened to her, I just prayed that she was OK.”

This innate sense of personal responsibility would ultimately lead Fitzgerald to found Amal, a nonprofit restaurant that teaches single mothers and other disadvantaged women practical skills so they can find jobs and provide for themselves, their children and their families.

News of the Day: November 29th, 2019

December 6, 2019 By Student Writer

News of the Day: November 29th, 2019 – by Chloe Chaobal

Women’s rugby in Morocco

by Jean-Marc Caimi and Valentina Piccinni, The Guardian

Lede: Playing rugby as a woman in a Muslim country is not an easy task. Even in Morocco, with its more modern approach to Islam, the sport is usually regarded as being strictly for men. However, the women of the all-female rugby team AMAR (or Association Marrakech Argan Rugby) are determined to surmount the social and familial obstacles to follow their sporting passion

Nutgraph: For these women, rugby is a declaration of independence and a source of empowerment.

News of the Day: October 15, 2019

November 7, 2019 By Student Writer

“Amnesty Says Morocco Rights Advocates Targeted by Israeli Developed Spyware”

Times of Israel

Lede: “Two rights activists in Morocco have been targeted by surveillance technology developed by an Israeli firm that enables the sender to seize near-full control of mobile devices, Amnesty International said Thursday.”

Nutgraph: I think the lede is also the nut graph.

Why is this newsworthy?: This article contributes to the ongoing persecution of journalists and activists in Morocco. The fact that the attackers used Israeli-developed software further complicates the situation, raised several questions, and makes this international news.

News of the Day: October 2, 2019

October 7, 2019 By Student Writer

Morocco Seizes 6 Tons of Cannabis Resin in Southern Morocco

by Safaa Kasraoui for Morocco World News

Lede: “Police seized 6.4 tons of cannabis resin in Guelmim in southern Morocco on Monday, September 30.”

Nut Graph: “Police seized 3.1 tons of cannabis resign during a search operation of a truck at the entrance of the city of Guelmim, the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN) said in a statement.”

Newsworthiness: This drug bust is part of a national crackdown on drugs and drug trafficking in Morocco. It demonstrates the fruits of government effort to bust drug dealers in Morocco.

News of the Day: September 29, 2019

September 29, 2019 By Student Writer

“7 Moroccan migrants die in capsizing off the country’s coast”

Source: AP News

Lede: “Local authorities say seven Moroccan migrants have died after their rubber boat capsized off the country’s Atlantic coast.”

Nutgraph: The article is so short, I’d say the lede is also the nut graph.

Why is this newsworthy?: Morocco is an integral part of the migration debate because of its proximity to Europe. According to some sources, more than 500 migrants have died this year trying to reach the shores of Europe from Morocco.

“Morocco to Recover 35,000 Pieces of Stolen Heritage from France”

Source: Morocco World News

Lede: Morocco’s Ministry of Culture and Communication has announced the launching of a process of recovering thousands of pieces of Moroccan heritage.

News of the Day: September 12, 2019

September 11, 2019 By Student Writer

“Morocco: Protests as journalist faces jail over alleged abortion”

Lede: “Hundreds of people protested on Monday in front of a Moroccan court as the trial opened of a journalist accused of having a late-term abortion and sexual relations outside marriage.”

Nut Graph: “The case brought against Hajar Raissouni, who writes for the Arabic daily Akhbar Al-Yaoum, has triggered a furious debate in the media and online about civil liberties and freedom of the press in the North African country.”

Why is this newsworthy?: This situation is ongoing and speaks to the larger issue of press freedom in Morocco.

Alumni Spotlight: Jeanette Lam

March 24, 2019 By Student Writer

By Lexi Reich

Unsure of which study abroad program to choose, Jeanette Lam, 21, left the decision to a coin toss. Through that chance and the SIT journalism program in Morocco, she found herself in Paris last summer working as a cinematographer and editing assistant on a feature documentary.

“France’s Children,” directed by Aida Alami, advisor to the SIT program, follows the story of an immigration activist in France, and other activists who, fueled by the desire to empower their community, reject victimhood.

“This experience was one of the most unique opportunities I’ve ever had,” Lam said.