One year after the mass uprising that forced former President Hosni Mubarak to relinquish power, Egyptians are still waiting for comprehensive media reforms that would pave the way for democracy. The military authorities controlling the country in the transitional period have yet to loosen their tight grip on the media and purge Egyptian state media of corrupt employees.
The media scene is more vibrant and diverse than it was under Mubarak’s authoritarian regime, but even after the launch of new private TV channels and publications, and the debut appearances of opposition figures on the small screen, some media analysts claim the reforms are not deep enough to effect tangible change.
“Red lines remain that cannot be crossed. In the old days Mubarak was the red line. Today, it is the ruling military council or SCAF,” says journalist Khaled Dawoud who works for state-sponsored Al Ahram.
From the outset, the interim military government issued directives for any media coverage of the military to be sent to the Armed Forces Morale Affairs Department for review before broadcast or publication. Broadcasters and editors working for Egyptian state-owned and independent media continue to complain about heavy censorship of their work, and in recent months several have resigned in protest. Prominent talk show host Hafez Al Mirazi recently became the latest broadcaster to quit his job, after the owner of the independent Dream TV kept Al Mirazi from showing a video of Magdi el Gallad, editor in chief of El Masry el Youm, expressing support for Gamal Mubarak’s candidacy for president. Al Mirazi vowed not to return until the station, owned by prominent businessman Ahmed Bahgat, aired the episode in full. Bahgat, who had close ties to the Mubarak regime, later argued that showing the video would only inflame public sentiment and turn public opinion against Gallad.
Youssri Foda, another veteran journalist was off the air for several weeks in November after ONTV — owned by wealthy businessman Naguib Sawiris — censored his show after hosting author Alaa el Aswany, outspoken critic of the military regime. In August, presenter Dina Abdel Rahman made headlines when her Daily Morning Show on Dream TV was abruptly ended after challenging a retired air force major general who had boasted that “the Egyptian army was teaching the public KG1 Democracy”. Her bosses reprimanded her and replaced her with another presenter the next day. Abdel Rahman has since returned to the small screen, hosting an evening talk show on another private satellite channel where she has been pushing the boundaries of political discourse.
Meanwhile, state TV is struggling to regain credibility lost after biased coverage of last January’s uprising. During the eighteen days of mass protests, state TV waged an information war against pro-democracy activists, launching a smear campaign aimed at delegitimising the goals of the revolution. The airwaves were saturated with fabricated tales of treacherous protesters, including a televised confession from a young woman claiming that the CIA trained her to instigate the mass protests. State media changed its tone as soon as Mubarak fell, with editors back pedalling to take the side of revolutionaries. A front page banner in state-owned Al Ahram on 12 February (the day after the ousting of Mubarak) read: “The authoritarian regime has fallen!”
But soon the editors slid back to their old habits, repeating the mistakes of the past. During violent clashes at Maspero in October, Rasha Magdy, a state TV newscaster urged the public to defend the military against attacks by Coptic protesters. Magdy’s plea earned her the wrath of the public and she was accused of inciting violence against the protesters.
Calls for a public service broadcaster to replace the propaganda machine of the ruling authorities have so far been ignored and a former military general has been appointed as Minister of Information in the new cabinet — despite calls to dismantle the ministry altogether and replace it with a media council. Journalists opposing the appointment of the minister say the move can only mean tighter control of the media and more propaganda for the military authorities. “We had hoped that television in the post — revolutionary era would become the mouthpiece of the people not the regime,” lamented Salma Amer, a former reporter at state TV.
But the picture isn’t totally bleak. The courage shown by some journalists fighting for journalistic ethics, the proliferation of new voices in the media and breaking the barrier of fear are all encouraging signs that change is on the way. The media landscape is being transformed and the introduction of political satire in comedy shows like Bassem Youssef’s The Program would have been unthinkable just a year ago. Despite being on air for just a few months, Youssef is already a household name in Egypt and has developed a mass following for his unique brand of sarcastic humor. For him, the sky’s the limit and Youssef has mercilessly poked fun at practically everything and everyone including the military establishment.
“One of the fruits from the 25 January Revolution has been the new energy injected in Egyptian media,” says prominent journalist and correspondent Ayman Mohieldeen.
Mohieldeen’s optimism is shared by a few hopeful media analysts who believe that a new momentum has been started. And, they assure us, the trend is irreversible.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood today announced plans to sue an independent newspaper for allegedly insulting the leader and its female members. Newspaper Al-Fagr published an article on 29 December by Mohamed al-Baz in which he reviewed a book written by Entissar Abdel Moniem, a female ex-member of the Brotherhood who slammed the organisation for their position on women. Muslim Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghazlan said that al-Baz slandered the group’s leader and its female members, and they would not tolerate defaming “honourable people under the veneer of free opinion.” The paper has also come under fire recently for printing articles against the ruling military leadership.
Imprisoned blogger Maikel Nabil ended his 130-day hunger strike on Saturday after being transferred to a prison hospital on 1 January following allegations of abuse in the jail where he has been held since March 2011.
Mark Nabil, the blogger’s brother, reported that Maikel was assaulted in the prison following a 30 December visit. The next day his lawyer filed a complaint with the attorney general and the allegations are now being investigated.
According to Mark, an inmate beat his brother, and his complaints were ignored. He said police officers threatened to frame Maikel for religious contempt against the inmate, a former police officer imprisoned on murder charges who allegedly receives special treatment in jail.
Nabil, who was recently sentenced to two years in prison for insulting the military and “spreading false information” on his blog, went on hunger strike in order to draw attention to his case and expose the injustice of Egyptian military trials.
On 28 December, he wrote a blogpost from prison, slamming statements made by Mukhtar Al-Mulla, the general of Egypt’s ruling military council. Al-Mulla had dismissed concerns about the well-known cases of activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah and Nabil, saying that even though both “are Egyptian citizens”, and are “keen to protect all Egyptians,” they were only discussing “one citizen out of 85 million.”
Quoting John Stuart Mill, Nabil said:
If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
Nabil then addressed his pleas to Egyptian society:
I am addressing myself to society, a society that was taught to accept the violation of One Citizen’s rights for the greater good of the community, as if the power that oppresses one will be able to later respect the rights of the community. This society that has accepted the displacement of the Nubian community in the name of national interest, that has accepted the expulsion of Egyptian Jews, the confiscation of their property, the revoking of their nationality, in the name of the interests of the majority. The same society that has sequestered gay rights, that has limited the individual freedoms of individuals under the guise of maintaining the family system and the interests of the greater society. It is time for the 85 Million to understand that their freedom is tied to the freedom of that One Citizen, that all freedom is lost once they allow the wolf to choose the first victim from amongst the herd, that they cannot regain the freedom of society unless every One Citizen is free.
Veteran Egyptian blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah has finally been released pending investigation from the Cairo Criminal Court Sunday after being detained for 56 days.
He comes home to his family and his 20-day-old son, who was born while his father was detained. Little Khaled was named after Egypt’s martyr, Khaled Said, who was brutally beaten to death by police informants outside an Internet café in Alexandria on June 6, 2010.
Alaa was detained by military court after refusing to answer any questions directed at him and instead remained silent, as he does not recognise military trials for civilians as being legitimate. He knew there would be a price to pay for that— and indeed he did pay. Alaa’s case was finally transferred to a civilian judge recently. Yesterday, the same judge re-started the investigation process, and soon afterwards released Alaa pending investigations.
Alaa had to go back to Torah prison, his detention place, for his release orders to be processed. He was then transferred to Cairo Central Security, where he was finally released.
The blogger was greeted by a slew of media outlets, and only moments after his release, he fiercely attacked military rule. He told the media that the real triumph would only come when the army generals who shot the protesters at Maspiro would be put through a fair trial. A mini protest followed, chanting “Down with military rule.”
Alaa wanted to stop by Tahrir Square before going home, so his family and some friends including myself, took him there. He was treated like a celebrity in Tahrir. People rushed at him to say their hellos and hug him. Friends who learned he was free from Twitter joined in Tahrir. Alaa immediately gave a passionate impromptu speech about what the revolution means, and what should happen next.
He eventually made it to his parents’ house much later, where he finally had a chance to enjoy his family, his wife activist and blogger Manal Hassan, who endured his absence as her pregnancy was coming to term, and his precious Khaled.
ALAA IS FREE.
Rasha Abdulla is an associate professor at the Journalism and Mass Communication Department of the American University in Cairo. An advocate for freedom of expression, Abdulla has published several books and writings on Internet use and digital activism in Egypt and throughout the Arab World. You can follow her on Twitter:@RashaAbdulla
