It had never occurred to me that I had no background knowledge on how the news I read every morning was curated and packaged on the pages of the many news outlets I’d so often refer to. It was when I first came across the J-term course Reporting Morocco that I became interested in understanding the life of a journalist and the stories that were mirrored through the headline of every news article I came across. This course focused on narrating the guidelines, ethics and standards that journalists in Morocco have to follow. It showcased the heart-wrenching struggles that news reporters in Morocco experience when publishing sensitive news articles under their strict censorship laws. The course was taught by Professor Aida Alami, a freelance journalist from Morocco, who had conducted most of her reporting in her home country.

The first two weeks of the course were taught in Abu Dhabi and were intellectually enriching as they introduced students from different disciplines to the world of journalism. The content was centered around Morocco, but Alami allotted time for teaching a plethora of universally applicable subtopics that varied from journalism ethics to foreign correspondent work and the impact of the media on the rise of the Arab Spring. The initial weeks in Abu Dhabi gave us a sense of Morocco's society and culture that motivated a smoother transition into Moroccan society during our trip to the capital, Rabat.

Most of the teaching in this class moved away from conventional lecture-style classrooms and used an academic lens to allow students to discuss the societal issues that the Moroccan people are facing. The course also hosted a number of guest speakers that taught us about journalism beyond academic journals and news articles. Class trips to The National and Gulf News allowed us to meet the faces behind these widely read news outlets based in the UAE.

The topics we wrote about highlighted various questions ranging from women’s rights, multilinguist culture, mental health, immigration, to music and video games. There were absolutely no limitations on the topics we could pick, giving us an opportunity to tailor our research to our interests. After we had acquired a broad understanding of journalism in Abu Dhabi, we were ready to go out into Rabat as newly-minted journalists for the week. Alami, who was very well connected, facilitated meetings with particular figures that were able to provide valuable insight for our final research papers.

The professor’s involvement in many political movements in the country meant we could meet human rights activists, photojournalists, feminists, journalists facing legal issues and others that were engaged in Morocco’s political climate. Long lunches with these knowledgeable individuals allowed for scholarly conversations that cultivated ideas for our research. Visits to the Moroccan Association of Human Rights and the International Organization of Migration also contributed to the research of many.

While in Morocco, I chose to dedicate my research to understanding gender biases in the word Hshouma, used by the everyday Moroccan. The responses Morocco’s citizens provided were unlike any academic literature I had previously come across. Different crowds provided completely new opinions, distinct thought processes and unique perspectives that illustrated the diversity in utilizing this one simple word. Reporting Morocco took its students on a journey of understanding the transformation a news article undergoes when incorporating the statements of those affected.