Sahafa Med, research and opening… Relive the first day of the Agora for journalisme in Marseille
On April 28th, 2025, Sahafa Med stopped off at the Mucem (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée) in Marseille for a rich exchange of views between journalists from the southern Mediterranean. With this programme, at a time when geopolitical upheavals are fracturing the world, the media and independent journalists had the opportunity to discuss and collectively rethink the modalities of partnership and cooperation to promote journalism and reliable information. Over a four-year period, almost 2,000 journalists from the southern Mediterranean were able to discuss these issues thanks to Sahafa Med, a project co-financed by the European Union.
At the beginning of the afternoon, researchers and university professors met at Aix-Marseille University to discuss a major question: “How are changes in the economic, social and political spheres in the various countries of the Mediterranean redefining the challenges of independent news media?”
Syria, time for hope?
On the opening evening of the Agora for Journalism in Marseille, the topic of discussion was Syria, and the reasons to hope for a better future. A special tribute was also paid to the journalists who risk their lives to cover the conflicts south of the Mediterranean.
Since the fall of Bashar Al-Assad, “we’re full of joy, and at the same time paralyzed by the future. Because the new leaders do not represent the Syrian population”, confided Omar Youssef Souleimane, a French-Syrian writer, to the 300-plus people present at the Mucem (Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée).
“I would like to remember those who were murdered for speaking out. […] Marseille will always be a refuge for those who protect and defend knowledge”, insisted the Mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, while Her Highness the Princess of Jordan, Rym Ali, spoke of the importance of media and information literacy, “sometimes seen as a luxury” in some countries, when it is “on the contrary, a democratic imperative“.
The Lebanese newspaper L’Orient Le Jour was awarded the Medal of the City of Marseille, also welcoming Paul Morcos, Lebanon’s Minister of Information. “Without politically and economically independent media, there can be no informed debate”, he declared.
