Rabat – After several Moroccan news outlets shared rumors about television channel 2M’s information director, Samira Sitail, leaving the organization, 2M finally confirmed the news on Friday, January 31.
Départ de Mme Samira Sitail: Communiqué de 2M pic.twitter.com/acQYAaNJzu
— 2M.ma (@2MInteractive) January 31, 2020
Sitail, who joined 2M in May 1990, left the media institution to pursue an academic career in information and communication sciences, at the CELSA school in Paris’ Sorbonne University, explains the organization.
Born in 1964, in southern Paris, Sitail grew up in France before settling in Morocco in 1987 after getting a job at the national television company RTM. In 1990, she moved to 2M, starting as a presenter-journalist, before climbing the hierarchy and becoming the channel’s information director in May 2001.
Sitail is well-known in Morocco’s mediatic field for interviewing international figures and directing novel documentaries.
The journalist created the first Moroccan documentary about prostitution, borrowing the French poet Charles Baudelaire’s title “Les fleurs du mal” (The Flowers of Evil). She also directed the first series of televised reports about Moroccans living abroad.
Sitail presented and moderated several debate shows, including “L’homme en question” (The Man in Question), “Pour tout vous dire” (To Tell You Everything), and “Edition speciale” (Special Edition).
During her career, the journalist interviewed several prominent figures in the world of politics and diplomacy, including Nelson Mandela, Ban Ki-Moon, Hillary Clinton, Shimon Perez, Jose-Maria Aznar, Macky Sall, Francois Mitterrand, and Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
One of Sitail’s most famous productions is her documentary “Memoires d’exil” (Exile Memories), where she narrates the exile of King Mohammed V and the royal family to Madagascar in 1953.
In February 2016, King Mohammed VI designated Sitail as head of press and communication within the organization committee of the Conference of the Parties (COP 22).
In 2017, the senior reporter contributed to the launch of a network for African female journalists, called “Les panafricaines” (The Pan-Africans). The third meeting of the network is set to take place on March 6-7.
The official announcement from 2M contradicts rumors that Sitail was going to replace the general director of Morocco’s state-run news agency MAP, Khalil Hachimi, or the Moroccan ambassador to France, Chakib Benmoussa.
