Media Situation in Egypt: Tenth report

Media Monitor Egypt - 10
Bi-monthly report on the media situation
During January and February 2014
Al Sawt Al Hurr
Arab Network for Media Support
www.asahnetwork.org
Media Situation in Egypt: Tenth report
for the period January and February 2014
General Developments in the Egyptian Media
Preface
The Research Section of al Sawt al Hurr, the Arab Network for Media Support, produces the
Media Monitor on a bi-monthly basis. These reports document and describe developments
in the Egyptian media, such as the emergence or disappearance of media outlets (including
satellite channels, newspapers and news websites), as well as developments pertaining to
the enabling environment for Egyptian media, such as legal, economic, political and social
developments that affect the dynamism, quality and diversity of the media landscape. With
these reports, al Sawt al Hurr aims to provide media workers, researchers, academics and
anyone interested in the field of media in Egypt with a systematic description and analysis
of the rapid developments that take place in this sector.
Each Media Monitor consists of two parts:
Part 1: General Developments
The first part of the Media Monitor monitors recent developments in the Egyptian
media sector, presented to readers with an interest in and some knowledge of the
Egyptian media landscape.
Part 2: Research Results
The second part focuses on a single specific issue or subject relevant to media
and development, and presents a summary of an analytical study conducted by
al Sawt al Hurr during the same period. In this edition, research was carried
out on “Presence and use of editorial guidelines in the media-
organizations ”.
Research team:
Eman Kheir
Media developments
PhD. Al Shaimaa Alazab
Operational research
Petrus Schothorst
Editor
Please send any reactions, suggestions or other relevant information to
info@asahnetwork.org
2
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
Part I
General Developments in the Egyptian Media
3
General Developments in the Egyptian Media
This report monitored the media situation in Egypt and gives an analysis of the developments
that took place during January and February 2014.
This report has been compiled by “al Sawt al Hurr, Arab Network for Media Support, and is
one of a series produced by “al Sawt al Hurr» to provide media-professionals, researchers,
journalists and anyone interested in the Egyptian media with a comprehensive overview of
significant developments.
The first part presents the monitoring results of recent developments in certain sections
1. Developments in the Media Sector in General
- The Supreme Council for the Media fully operational and actively engaged in the
selection of new editors in chiefs of state media
- The syndicate of journalists received much media attention because of its opinions and
positions on several issues
- There was increased international and Egyptian concern for freedom of expression and
for arrests and violations against journalists.
2. Newspapers
More than 380 journalists submitted applications to the Supreme Press Council
in order to fill the 53 editor-in-chief positions with 8 state owned media houses,
including daily, weekly or periodic newspapers. Only the editor-in-chief position
at al Ahram is already filled.
General Developments
A new newspaper, titled al Badil was launched in January. The newspaper with the same
name disappeared some five years ago. Under new ownership it opened a news website, to
which a newspaper has now been added. Editor-in-chief is Mohamed Zyadah and the Board
of Directors is chaired by Mohamed Zidan.
al Shaab, the party-affiliated newspaper, was shut down following an order issued by
prime minister Hazem Beblawy, for inciting violence. Magdy Hussein,
al Shaab’s editor-in-chief and chairman of the Board of Directors said that the al Akhbar
foundation refused to print the January 26 2014 edition and announced it will not print al
Shaab during the coming six months, in spite of a contract between the two parties. Diaa
Rashwan, chairman of the Journalism Syndicate, acquiesced with the decision.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of al Ahram, Ahmed Sayed al Naggar, issued a
4
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
decision to reduce the allowances and bonuses his position entitles him to. The monthly
incentives of the chairman will be reduced from 87 to 49 thousand EGP and his basic salary
will be cut from 10 to 6 thousand EGP.
On April 5, during a ceremony held at UNESCO’s office
in Paris, Egyptian journalist Mostafa Hamdy received the
UNESCO 2013 award for human development and media,
in recognition for his role in developing poor villages and
helping patients gain access to health services. Mostafa
Hamdy works for al Shorouk independent newspaper
and for al Eishah wa el Ayshinha, a program aired on
Mehwar1 satelitte TV channel.
Editorial changes, policies and problems:
Mohammed abdelHady A’lam was appointed as editor in chief of Al Ahram newspaper
al Shorouk news website has started to publicly develop its editorial guidelines and invited
website users to forward suggestions.
Demonstrations and protests
al Masreyoun journalists began an open sit-in on January 29, in front of the office of Diaa
Rashwan, chairman of the Journalists Syndicate
in protest of the Syndicate Board’s decision to
stop registration of the newspaper for what they
called “reasons unknown”. Journalists from
several other newspapers, that were affected by
a decision of the Syndicate Board who’s decision
to halt their membership application procedures
“without reasons”, organized a protest in front of
the Journalists Syndicate in addition to their sitin at the headquarters of the Syndicate.
On February 16, the Rose al Yousef foundation, responsible for the publication of the state
owned Rose al Yousef newspaper, received new protests from its staff because it suspended
staff appointments due to the foundation’s financial problems.
Legal entanglements
On January18th, the Giza Criminal Court acquitted Magdy al-Galad the editor-in-chief of
al Watan newspaper and journalist Mohamed Barakat of accusations of libel and slander,
which were lodged against both journalists by former Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, for
publishing a press report on the sit-in by police officers in January 2013.
The Administrative Court of the State Council referred the lawsuit brought against al Shaab
to the college of commissioners to prepare a full report on the case. Lawyers charged al
Shaab newspaper, mouthpiece of the New Labour Party, with ‘insulting the Egyptian people
and the revolution of June 30, and for using an inciting tone against the army and its soldiers’;
they also demanded a ban of the newspaper and confiscation of previous editions.
5
On February 26, the prosecution for State Security referred the staff of al Jazeera International
English to the criminal court on charges of fabricating and airing news ‘contrary to reality’
via the Qatar based satellite channel. The case became known in the media as the ‘Marriott
Cell’ because the accused staff was arrested in their hotel on December 29, 2013.
Mohamed Bader, a cameraman at al Jazeera was acquitted of charges of rioting and
committing acts of violence during the events at Ramses square of July 2013.
Ahmed Rady, managing editor of the party affiliated newspaper al Wafd,, lodged a report
with Attorney General Hisham Barakat against Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the Journalists
Syndicate, the members of the Board of the Syndicate, Galal Arif, head of the Supreme Press
Council and Ahmed Galal, minister of Finance, accusing them of supporting terrorism and
empowering the members of a terrorist organization. ?This because the Syndicate accepted
membership applications of journalists/ members of religious parties, e.g. Hurriya wa Adela,
although the newspapers and the parties to which they are affiliated were banned two months
ago for belonging to terrorist groups and in violation of article 74 of the constitution that
prohibits founding parties on religious grounds.
Acts of violence on journalists and media-institutions
On February 2, Ahmed abdelHamid, a Minya based reporter for al Jazeera, was arrested for
participating in demonstrations against army and police and for chanting insults at both of
them. He was confined for 15 days for investigations.
Abdallah al Shamy, Egypt correspondent of al Jazeera International, started a hunger-strike
after he was arrested 160 days earlier on August 14 2013, while covering the dispersal of the
al Raba’a and al Nahda sit-ins. The prosecution refused to release him on a bail.
al Badil journalists condemned the arrest of their colleague Karim al Behary, on Saturday
January 25, 2014, while covering the third anniversary of the revolution of January 25, on
charges of possessing Molotov cocktails and of attacking security forces. The journalists
requested the Board of the Syndicate to intervene for the release of their colleagues. They
stated that continued violence would lead to killing the truth, which they aim to promote and
present to the public?
Fifteen people working for Rassd, affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, were arrested,
accused of inciting violence against the ministry of the interior, publishing false information
related to the armed forces and the police officers and of publishing the details and the
addresses of officers in several governorates.
Yahia Khalaf, manager of Yaqeen, news network with a Salafi tendency and four co- workers
were arrested for working without permits. All equipment at the network’s office was
confiscated.
al Jazeera International English, announced that nine of its staff were arrested in Egypt
and brought to court on charges of reporting “false news” and presenting what happened in
Egypt as a “civil war”.
3. Multimedia trends, media and interactivity
6
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
According to http://www.alexa.com, the news websites affiliated to private and
state-owned newspapers were among the 30 most visited websites during the past
two months. These websites ranked as follows: Youm7, al Watan, al Ahram, and
al Masry al Youm in fourth place.
http://cairokora.com/.
Youm7 released a new website related to Youm7 sports website. The editor-in-chief is
Essam Shaltot.
http://www.menanews.org
The Middle East News Agency (MENA) started a new, open
news website ‘Bawabet Sharq al Awsat’ on February 5:
The website of al Watan newspaper created an interactive
feature for the real-time updating of numbers and statistical
information on all governorates with the aim of keeping users up-to-date on the preliminary
results during the referendum on the new Egyptian constitution which was held on January
14/15, 2014.
Most of the news websites conducted live and continuous coverage on the referendum on
the constitution with live reports on events, interactive maps, etc. They also conducted polls
on readers’ participation in and the likely outcome of the referendum on the constitution.
Some news websites conducted polls on the chances of the present Minister of Defence,
first-lieutenant Abdul-Fatah al-Sisi’s participation in the upcoming presidential elections.
4. Independent news websites
After a period of relative silence during the last months of 2013, many new developments took place with at least eight new news websites starting their activities.
Qoll, http://qoll.org/,
is a new website for articles that express the opinion of their authors; the website is open to
publications on a wide range of subjects. The editor-in-chief is Ahmed al-Fakhrany.
Yanair, www.yanair.ne
is a new news website which has commenced its experimental phase. The editor-in-chief is
Mohamed al-Garhy.
http://masralarabia.com/
is a new website, under construction.
http://www.cairolive.com/zahma/
is a new website. The editor-in-chief is Mohamed Kheir.
Tahrir News Agency, http://www.tnaeg.net.,
is a new news website with Fahmy Bahgat as chairman of the Board of Directors and editorin-chief Hisham abdelHafiz.
http://www.shorouknet.com/
7
is a new website titled “el Shorouk Academy for Mass Communication.
http://www.onmasr.com
is a new e-newspaper, the Chairman of the Board of Directors is Mohamed Ahmed Aly and
the editor-in-chief is Ibrahim al Sharif.
http://www.masralarabia.com/
includes a listening service for articles via “SoundCloud” in addition to the service of
“Istahsir” which is a service for dealing with physiological, social and educational problems
and for consultations on youth problems.
5. Egyptian Radio and TV Union
A large part of ERTU’s sources of funding comes from marketing: Targets are
45.07% from inside Egypt, 44.61% from the Arab region and 8.53%».from the rest
of the world 8.53%».
Nile Sat airs 600 TV satellite channels, 100 radio channels and 24 high definition channels
and has made 3D TV available on request for satellite channels.
Safaa Higazy, head of the News Sector for Egyptian TV, has ceased broadcasting the
program “Egypt Today” on the Nile International channel, suspended the head of the
channel and transferred the program’s entire staff to the Documentary Programs Department
after complaints by the Legal Affairs Department. The program mistakenly broadcasted a
documentary on the accomplishments of the deposed president Mohamed Morsi and it was
repeated on the Nile Cinema and al Sadisa channels, with managers putting the blame on
each other. Staff that was appointed by the former MB Minister of Information Salah AbdulMaqsoud was also blamed for the mistakes.
Ahmed al Berry, in an article titled “al Abis fe Maspero”,
(Tampering in Maspero”) on al Ahram Arabic website wrote that the reason behind the
recurring mistakes at ERTU is the decline in programs quality which caused viewers to
switch to satellite channels.
A new program plan was presented at the end of January
2014 with a variety of programs on various channels that
aims to attract advertisers who are needed if the financial
problems at Maspero are to be solved.
The Central Services Administration of the Regional Sectors
of ERTU announced the start of a new computer animated
‘imaginary studio’ on the al Mahrousa Media conglomerate,
which includes six regional channels, covering all of the
country’s governorates. These computer graphics will cut
costs on decors in a real studio.
8
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
6. Commercial / satellite TV
Nile Sat includes 38 state owned satellite channels and 135 private satellite channels. Registered with the Investment Authority are 45 Islamic, 85 Christian and
3 channels owned by the Orthodox church. There are 85 websites affiliated with
these channels but most have only static (pdf) content. Only 21 websites are updated and interactive. Some of them have Facebook pages and or twitter account.
Felol is a new satellite channel released by Sama al Masry; a famous Egyptian belly dancer
who is renowned for her implacable hostility toward the MB.
CBC Network has started a new channel CBC TWO. It is a family entertainment channel that
broadcasts social, religious and sports programs. It also presents Arabic and foreign drama
and has no interest in political conflicts.
al Hayat started a new news program entitled “al Hayat al- An” with an SMS news service.
ONTV launched new interactive program named “al Bab al Rabie”, created by Hossam al
Sokkari. The idea is that people will engage with the program and offer their own perspective
on how it should be structured and run.
CBC Plus changed its name to CBC Extra and now has full programming with news updates
and news programs replacing the old system which repeated the same programs every two
hours.
CBC Extra was chosen best TV Satellite channel on its coverage of the referendum in a poll
conducted by Youm7, with ONTV in second place.
MBC-Masr started “Yahdoth fi Masr”, a new daily talk show hosted by Sharif Amer and
reinstated Bassam Yussuf’s program, which can now also be seen on Deutsche Welle Arabic.
Al Nahar network obtained a frequency for a new radio station; “al-Nahar FM 93.7” and
it will be only the second privately owned radio station allowed in Egypt. The station will
broadcast a variety of programs with many new ideas. AlNahar FM will make use of media
personalities Riham al Sahly, Mahmoud Saad and Adel Hamouda that are famous of its
television shows. An Nahar considers itself as being the fourth generation of the radio
stations.
During a special episode on the 2013 harvest in the new program “25/30” on January 1,
2014, which is presented by the Ibrahim Essa on ONTV, famous media expert Dr. Yasser
Thabt, said that the role of the media is to be objective, which is not the same as neutral.
Columnist Osama Khalil, stated that al Jazeera International cannot be considered a media
organization due to its lack of professionalism and objectivity.
Journalists for Egypt, founded in 2011 by a large number of independent journalists with
the aim of protecting journalists from all forms of violence, together with the Esmat Yahia
foundation for Arts & Culture honoured a number of media-professionals for their successes
in 2013. Among them Wael al Ibrashi for “al Asherah Massa’”, Moatez al Demrdash for
“Misr al Gadedah”, Amany al Khiat for the best morning program and the writer Adel
Hamoudah for the best political program. The movement also honoured Albert Shafik,
director of ON TV for his news coverage and Lamia Fahmy abdelHamid for the best social
program, Jaber al Qarmouti was honoured for the best program on the press.
9
7. Freedom of Expression and infringements on it
On the eve of the third anniversary of the revolution, the German radio “Deutsche Welle”
published a report on the role of social networking sites in the Egyptian political scene,
honouring the role of this media during the January 25 revolution of 2011. It concluded that
issuing a law to prevent demonstrations in Egypt and the arrest of an activist because of his
posts on “Twitter», raises many questions about the space of ​​freedom given to the young
people in cyberspace.
The Observatory of Journalists Against Torture reported that
the number of journalists who suffered from violence during
the first half of January 2014amounted to 31, including 9
attacks on journalists, beatings and destruction or seizure of
equipment. 17 journalists were arrested, 5 were released and
charges were brought against 3 journalists. Two journalists
were banned from covering news.
‘Sanaad’, the network for defenders of Media Freedom in the Arab World issued a report
that monitored more than 30 violations against journalists, photographers and mediaprofessionals while performing their job and covering the events of the third anniversary
of January 25 revolution. According to the report, violations committed against mediaprofessionals included security violations, assault by citizens, injuries and arrests.
Reporters Without Borders has officially commented on
the prosecution office announcement of January 29 2014,
to refer 20 al Jazeera journalists to the criminal court on
charges of “undermining the state’s prestige, social order”
and “broadcasting false information”. It sees this as a
serious deterioration in the freedom of expression which
started with President Morsi’s removal in July 30, 2013.
8. State and government institutions
Doria Sharif al Deen, Minister of Information and Dr. Houda Badran, the head of the
Egyptian Feminist Union, launched the “women for women» campaign, which aims to elect
100 women to the peoples› assembly during the coming parliamentary elections.
9. The Supreme Press Council
Salah Essa, deputy chairman of the Supreme Press Council stated that the media code of
ethics will not be drafted until a new syndicate for media-professionals has been created
and become operational. The constitution clearly states that it is the role of a professional
syndicate to draft its own code of ethics, organize its implementation and holds its
members accountable for it. Salah Eisa stated that a syndicate for media-professionals does
not yet exist and that at his moment the Ministry of Investment is still the administrative
authority to hold TV satellite channels accountable, e.g. penalties, closure, etc.
10
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
The Supreme Press Council published its criteria for
selecting editors-in-chief of state owned media. Criteria
include membership of the journalists syndicate of at
least ten years, managerial experience in a print-media
organization and e leadership positions in the printed
newspapers and employment by the organization
for which the application is presented, including
specialization in line with the type of media. (In case of
extreme necessity, the council may drop this last condition.)
Applicants should not have had any legal sentences or be
the
subject of any disciplinary measures of the syndicate, including the syndicates policy towards
the Zionist entity during the last five years. The new criteria were criticized by several
Board members of the journalists syndicate. Gamal Fahmi called the criteria unprofessional,
humiliating an a product of left-overs from the Mubarak regime.
10. Journalism Organisations
The Journalists Syndicate came under fire during the period of this report because of what some of its members see as an infringement on their personal and
professional freedom because of the serious violations they face without any
support from the Syndicate.
Kareem Mahmoud, columnist and general secretary of the syndicate, announced on January
29, 2014 that the Board of Directors, lifted the ban on the registration of four newspapers; al
Watan, al Masryoon, al Naba and al Suq al Arabia after they adjusted their positions within
the time limit given during the Board’s meeting on January 16, 2014.
The registration committee has accepted applications from
26 journalists from Youm7, postponed 5 and refused 1.
Procedures for journalists from al Masry al Youm, Hurriya
wa Adela and al Watan have been suspended because of
mistakes in the contracts undertaken with the journalists.
Registration of these journalists will be reviewed after
contractual mistakes have been corrected.
The registration of six newspapers, including al Diyar, al
Shari’a, al Balad and Mosast Misr al Arabyia was halted
for six months because of complaints against al Masryoon, submitted to the syndicate,
because a number of journalists were dismissed. The registration of al Alam al Youm was
suspended because of failure to pay salaries on a regular basis.
As for al Diyar and al Shari’a, the decision was issued to suspend their registration for
failing to publish on a regular basis, they need to provide a time frame for returning to
regular issuing before they are accepted by the Syndicate.
11
The Egyptian Online Journalists Syndicate organized its
second annual conference on January 20, 2013. The Youm7
foundation was honoured as the best website in 2013 and the
journalist Mohamed Faheem abdelGhafar as the best editor in
2013.
The journalist Hussien Talal, photographer of Youm7, won
the first prize for “storyboard” in a competition organized by
the press photographers section of the Journalists Syndicate.
AbdelMoneim al Nubi, photographer of al Badil independent newspaper won the first prize
in “news photos”. He died in an accident only two days before the awards were announced.
Diaa Rashwan, the Head of the Journalists Syndicate, and several members of the Board of
the Syndicate inaugurated an exhibition and the contest in al Sawy Culture Wheel for the
2013 best press photo. Some 100 Egyptian press photographers working for all kinds of
media participated. The exhibit aims to present clear and honest photos to the public of the
most important events of the year.
Osama Dawood, Board member of the Journalists Syndicate, announced that the Board
decided to refer Wael Lotfi, the editor in chief of al Sabah weekly newspaper, to the
disciplinary committee of the board for accusations of slander and libel, filed by journalist
Adel Hamouda.
The Board’s disciplinary committee has Amer Eid, former Head of the Alexandria branch
of the syndicate, suspended from work for three months for swearing on internet and for
threatening some syndicate members and some politicians. Amer Eid said that the accusations
date back to 2008 when he was elected as head of the Alexandria Journalists Syndicate and
surprised by attempts to intervene by members of the dissolved National Democratic Party
and State Security Services.
The General Syndicate for workers in the Press, Print and Media has approved the
establishment of a syndicate section for workers in Youm7 newspaper
Abeer al Saady, journalist and member of the Board of the Journalists Syndicate in an official
press release announced the suspension of her membership due to the deteriorating situation
of journalists which includes violence and arrests, without active interventions from the
Syndicate to deal with this.
11. Attention for the media from the side of civil society organisations
The Egyptian Feminist Union, an independent organization headed by Houda Badran,
honoured 18 Egyptian journalists in the presence of Doria Sharif al Deen, the Minister of
Information, by granting them the union’s appreciation award in 2013 in appreciation of
their press initiative that supported the efforts of the Union in enhancing the role of Egyptian
women, the future map and the Union campaign to vote yes on the constitution.
The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory, based in Geneva, issued a warning on
the increasing hostile environment toward freedom of the press and the media in Egypt, in
the light of the practices by the Egyptian authorities in the last six months and the mounting
12
Media Monitor 10
Arab Network for Media Support
repressive policy against press and media workers in the field of, calling on the ruling
authorities in Egypt to immediately release journalists detained because of their activities.
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights
Studies, issued its second progress report
on the performance of 20 media-outlets
during the coverage of issues related to the
referendum on the constitution, between
December 5 and January 8, 2014. The report
was based on daily monitoring of seven
newspapers, eight satellite TV channels: and
five radio stations. The report found a clear
and deliberate performance failure of the
media.
The Legal Aid Unit for Freedom of Expression of the Arabic Network for Human Rights
Information, ANHRI, issued a series of booklets with legal advice on publishing, aiming to
assist intellectuals and journalists. Booklets include basic legal information on all possible
violations and on how to deal with possible charges brought against them.
A joint operation room was held by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression
(AFTE) and the Observatory of Journalists Against Torture, on the occasion of the third
anniversary of January 25 and it monitored 36 cases of violence against journalists,
photographers and media-professionals while performing their work. The 36 cases are seen
as examples of the large number of violations. Violations varied from banning, arresting or
assaulting journalists and destruction or seizure of their equipment The two organizations
condemned the serious violations they observed and concluded that these violations resulted
in the media-outlets being unable to exercise their right to cover the events.
The program “al-Sandouq al-Aswad»at al Qahira wa al-Nas channel was met with anger
and strong reactions from the side of human rights organizations, including the Arabic
Network for Human Rights Information, the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social
Rights, Hisham Mubarak Law Centre and al Haqanya Centre for Advocating and Law who
concluded violations of the personal freedom of the individuals and filed a number of cases
against the program and its anchor. The program presented recorded telephone conversations
of leaders of the April 6 youth movement, made shortly after the 2011 revolution
The April 6 movement during a press conference on January 23, on the occasion of the
2011 revolution stated its five goals for the coming period, including a media charter that
would bar hate speech, violence, defamation and polarization The movement had previously
suggested such a charter to the Beblawi government..
13