He began as a reporter and polemicist in the Moroccan weekly La Vie Éco in 1996. After briefly serving as communication advisor for a cabinet member, he was editor in chief of Téléplus magazine in 1999. After the passing of King Hassan II, he was the correspondent in Morocco for Jeune Afrique magazine. In October 2001, he founded TelQuel, a weekly news magazine of which he became the publisher and editor. Under the editorial line “Morocco As It Is”, TelQuel covers monarchy, politics, business and culture and advocates democracy, secularism and individual freedoms. Its independent, liberal stand made it since its inception a resolute critic of the Makhzen (autocratic monarchic system) as much as of the Islamists. Both strongly attacked it in return. In 2005, TelQuel became the #1 weekly in Morocco.