media monitor egypt - 10 - الصوت...

Media Monitor Egypt - 10Bi-monthly report on the media situation

During January and February 2014

Al Sawt Al Hurr Arab Network for Media Support

www.asahnetwork.org

Media Monitor 102

Media Situation in Egypt: Tenth reportfor the period January and February 2014

General Developments in the Egyptian Media

PrefaceThe 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 DevelopmentsThe 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 ResultsThe 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 developmentsPhD. Al Shaimaa Alazab Operational researchPetrus Schothorst Editor Please send any reactions, suggestions or other relevant information to [email protected]

Arab Network for Media Support

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Part IGeneral Developments in the Egyptian Media

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General Developments in the Egyptian MediaThis 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 DevelopmentsA 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


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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 protestsal 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 sit-in 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 entanglementsOn 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.

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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-institutionsOn 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


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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 devel-opments 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 editor-in-chief Hisham abdelHafiz.

http://www.shorouknet.com/

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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 Abdul-Maqsoud 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.


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6. Commercial / satellite TV

Nile Sat includes 38 state owned satellite channels and 135 private satellite chan-nels. 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 up-dated 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.

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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 media-professionals while performing their job and covering the events of the third anniversary of January 25 revolution. According to the report, violations committed against media-professionals 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.


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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 t h e 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 be-cause 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.

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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


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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..

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