Pressure of Truth
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Outlet profile

Hespress

Moroccan, mainstream and generally establishment-friendly (Moroccan nationalist on the Western Sahara)

Owned byPrivately owned by the Guennouni brothers, Hassan and Mohamed El Amine El Guennouni, through the Moroccan company Marocads. It has been described as owned in equal parts by the two brothers.
FundingMainly online advertising, sold through its sister company Marocads. It does not charge for access and has no known state subsidy or outside backer. RSF's 2026 assessment says advertising in Morocco tends to favor pro-government media.
On the administrationbroadly supportive

Background

Hespress was launched in 2007 by the brothers Hassan and Amine El Guennouni. Some sources date its beginnings to 2004. It grew quickly and is widely described as Morocco's most popular news website. It publishes in Arabic, French and English. Marocads, a company with about $300,000 in capital, was set up to professionalize the site and run its advertising. Early academic studies from the late 2000s and around 2011 found a relatively open line that sometimes carried criticism of the regime, and it drew a large audience of ordinary readers. Over time, commentators have often seen it as close to the Moroccan establishment. It has said it opposes what it calls manipulation by foreign media. For example, it defended its coverage of the Azaitar brothers case in 2023 and challenged the credibility of foreign outlets reporting on it. It has been criticized for reflecting the state's view on sensitive topics such as the monarchy and the Western Sahara. The site rejects labels of bias. A 2025 survey placed it among online brands with reasonable public trust. Its coverage of the second Trump administration is largely favorable. It stresses Trump's reaffirmation of U.S. recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the Sahara, backing for Morocco's autonomy plan, and U.S. positions at the UN Security Council. It also publishes analysis arguing that closer U.S.-Morocco ties serve Morocco's interests. That stance is driven by Moroccan national interests more than by U.S. partisan alignment.

Sources

  1. Hespress (Wikipedia)
  2. Hespress - Media Ownership Monitor Morocco
  3. MarocAds - Media Ownership Monitor Morocco
  4. Morocco Media 2026: Owners, Regulator, Press Freedom
  5. Trump reaffirms U.S. recognition of Morocco's sovereignty over Sahara in message to King Mohammed VI (Hespress)
  6. Hespress challenges credibility of foreign media covering Azaitar brothers
  7. Electronic media in Morocco - An analysis of Hespress: Before and after the Democratic Spring

Profile compiled 2026-11-01; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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