au fait is a French-language, full color tabloid with a circulation of 10,000 copies and a 25 - 40 year-old target audience. Each Monday through Friday, since 1 March 2007, fourteen peddlars in Casablanca and three in Rabat distribute the paper, which should soon be available in Marrakech.
"You can also find it in chic cafes such as Frères Gourmets ... and we are very proud to be on board of some Royal Air Maroc flights," said 26-year-old publishing director, Réda Sedrati.
Launched by Devocean, a web service company created in Canada, au fait's team is made up of two desk editors, a single journalist and seven sales representatives. Although the majority of the news comes from Agence France Presse or Maghreb Arab Press, the Moroccan press agency, 10% of the content is exclusive.
"au fait is meant to be read quickly. Its mission is not to provide in-depth analysis articles," said Sedrati.
The success of free European dailies is part of the reasoning behind au fait's introduction to the industry. However, Sedrati noted that the main reason is that he sees a gap in the Moroccan daily market, currently inhabited by 'ageing' or 'partisan' papers which only refect a part of Moroccans.
“The right to free information is now commonplace thanks to the Internet and one should not have to pay to be informed,” said Sedrati. "We were surprised to see how quickly people were seduced, even if the concept of free newspapers was something completely unknown to them. 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," he added.
**Roughly translated, au fait means 'to be informed' or 'with the fact'.**
Source: Rap21; Arab Press Network
