The Mauritanian Journalists’ Union welcomes the step taken by the High Authority for the Press and Audiovisual Media (HAPA) in publishing a preliminary list of national press organisations that meet an acceptable level of the professional and institutional criteria laid down by law. The Union considers this an important development and a bold step towards implementing the laws governing the sector, ending the disorder and shortcomings that have characterised the media landscape, and establishing more professional and objective foundations for classifying press organisations.
The Union believes that adopting clear criteria to assess media organisations, including their legal and institutional status, the nature and content of their output, and their compliance with the requirements of professionalism and pluralism, can help organise the media sector and strengthen its credibility. Such criteria can distinguish organisations that meet the conditions for journalistic work from those that lack its minimum requirements. However, the success of this step depends on the objectivity of the criteria adopted, transparency in their application, and ensuring that the professional and social rights of staff in the organisations concerned are not overlooked.
While welcoming the importance of this approach, the Union stresses that decisions directly affecting the sector’s future should be taken in consultation with serious trade union and professional organisations. They should be based exclusively on legal provisions and objective professional and institutional criteria, rather than particular considerations or criteria without a legal and professional basis. The Union also calls on the High Authority to listen to organisations that believe they have suffered an injustice or have not been treated fairly by the classification, allow them to submit their grievances and clarify their circumstances, and examine their cases seriously and objectively, so that any possible shortcomings or errors can be reviewed and fairness ensured.
The Union emphasises that safeguarding the rights of journalists and media workers must be a fundamental condition of the classification and accreditation process, rather than a secondary consideration. This requires checking that organisations respect their staff’s professional and social rights, fulfil their obligations towards them, and provide a working environment that preserves their dignity and professional independence. No organisation can be considered to meet professional and institutional requirements unless it respects the rights of the journalists who form the foundation of its media output and ensure its continuity.
The Union also calls for the reform and evaluation process to include press, trade union and professional organisations, on the basis of clear legal and professional criteria that ensure equal opportunities and respect for pluralism, with journalists’ representatives involved at the various stages of organising and reforming the sector.
The Union renews its support for every serious effort to apply the law without selective enforcement and to establish transparency, fairness and consultation. This should lay the foundations for a professional and pluralistic media landscape that preserves organisations’ independence, safeguards journalists’ rights and strengthens society’s right to free and responsible information. On this occasion, it calls for the swift implementation of the provisions of the law on professional journalists and its implementing regulations.