Former BFMTV Anchor Rachid M’barki Joins Moroccan Media Group After Dismissal

A new adventure begins for Rachid M’barki. This time, far from France, the country that saw him born. "I believe we can announce it tonight: I am delighted to join the Eco Média group," he announced on Monday in Casablanca, during the ceremony of the 19th edition of the L’Économiste prize for research in economics, management and law.

On February 22, the Altice group, owner of BFMTV and RMC, had announced the dismissal of Rachid M’Barki for "passive corruption and breach of trust" following an internal investigation to find out if he "acted alone, and identify the dysfunctions that allowed the arrival on the air of these briefs outside of all the usual internal rules." In January, he was accused of having used the airtime to broadcast erroneous or highly biased information to serve foreign interests, between 2021 and 2022, without referring to his hierarchy, including a report on the organization of a Moroccan-Spanish economic forum in Dakhla, during which he used the term "Moroccan Sahara".

To read: BFMTV Fires Anchor Rachid M’Barki Amid Editorial Misconduct Investigation

Forbidden Stories, the international consortium of journalists behind the allegations against Rabat regarding the use of the Pegasus spyware, had then accused Rachid M’barki of being "financed" by Morocco to hold such discourse on the air. Accusations firmly rejected by the Franco-Moroccan during his hearing by a commission of inquiry in the National Assembly. He had described all the allegations against him as "total absurdity" and denounced the methods of "Story Killers", and in particular his colleague from Radio France Frédéric Métézeau, a member of the collective, whom he accused of having created an affair by brandishing the name and face of a well-known TV news presenter.