Morocco gets its first free daily

Devocean, a Web design company in Montreal and Casablanca, has started a French-language free daily called "au fait" ("to be informed" in English) in Morocco that has one reporter, two editors, seven sales people and 14 peddlers, according to the Arab Press Network. Only 10 percent of the paper's content is locally-generated, the rest coming from Agence France Presse or Maghreb Arab Press.

"We were surprised to see how quickly people were seduced, even if the concept of free newspapers was something completely unknown to them," said publishing director Réda Sedrati, 26. "People keep asking our peddlers, 'Are you sure, I have nothing to pay?' We also receive frequent calls from companies wishing to have au fait for their customers."