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Egypt's Polls…State-owned Media Drops "Fig Leaf"
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Press
coverage of the election season in Egypt showed huge flaws and
serious exaggerations.
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By
Khaled Mamdouh, IOL Staff
CAIRO,
November 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - While intimidation and
wide-scale violence are making the headlines of Egypt's hottest ever
parliamentary elections, the state-owned media coverage and
performance in general reflected a deep state of chaos, "highly
indicative" of the political atmosphere in the largest Arab
country.
"The
state-owned largest three press corporations have revealed their true
face in covering the elections. The largest three dailies in Egypt can
no more be referred to as national papers. These are National
Democratic Party's (NDP) mouthpieces," Magdy Al-Gallad, Chief
Editor of Egypt's only independent daily Al-Masry Al-Yom, told
IOL Wednesday, November 23.
Egyptian
parliamentary polls kicked off Wednesday, November 9, where 164 seats
were up for grabs in the first round and run-offs were contested
Tuesday, November 15.
The
second round was held Sunday, November 20, and run-offs are to be held
Saturday, November 26. A total of 144 seats are up for grabs in this
round; of these only 22 were settled and the remaining 122 are still
awaiting run-offs.
While
state-owned media in Egypt has long been known for its staunch support
of the regime, despite being – according to the law – national,
not party media, observers, media experts and the public opinion
believe the longest election season in the Egyptian history witnessed
the fall of the "fig leaf".
"The
presidential elections in September and the current general polls
highlighted, beyond any doubt, not only the staunch support by the
these so-called national papers to the government and regime, but also
their extremist tendency to clearly side with the NDP and its
candidates," Al-Gallad added.
"The
report by the Independent Media Observatory on the press performance
during the elections stated that over 90% of what Al-Ahram published
(on elections) and 86% of what Al-Akhbar published were campaigning
for NDP candidates."
Scandalous
Some
highly unprofessional and nonobjective practices by Egypt's
"national media" in covering the elections have again raised
serious questions on the future of sound coverage and integrity of
some of the largest media corporations in the Arab world.
"What
Al-Gomhorya did is nothing short of a press scandal by all
means," chief editor of one of Egyptian independent weeklies told
IOL Wednesday, preferring not to be named.
He
was referring to one of Egypt's state-owned largest three dailies. Al-Ahram
and Al-Akhbar complete the list.
Al-Misaa
daily, another state-owned daily published by Darul Tahrir Publishing
Corporation that also publishes Al-Gomhorya, ran a headline Monday,
November 21, declaring that NDP heavyweight Dr. Mostafa Al-Fiqy had
lost outright to Muslim Brotherhood candidate and former MP Dr. Gamal
Hishmat, with over 20,000 votes difference in favor of the MB
candidate.
Al-Gomhorya
daily, the big brother
publication of Al-Misaa, Tuesday, November 22, ran a major
headline reading: "NDP scores crushing victory in the second
round of polls", with a sub-headline reading: "Al-Fiqy
trounces Hishmat".
Neither
Al-Gomhorya nor any other state-owned daily sought to the clear
contradictions to their readers (a well-established press practice),
not even by attributing the previously published results to unofficial
results or MB sources, raising serious questions not only about
loyalties, but also about the application of professional press
measures.
"Chief
Editors of these papers have completely dropped any professional
standards or ethics of the press to prove their staunch support for
the NDP, both in the run-up to and during the polls," a source,
working with one of these largest three dailies, told IOL Wednesday,
November 23, asking not to be named.
The
case is no better with Al-Ahram and Al-Akhbar, whose
headlines Tuesday, November, either ignored direct references to the
second round of general polls' results or highlighted "major
gains" by the NDP.
In
the second round, only 22 seats have been settled outright, of these
the Muslim Brotherhood grabbed 13. Yet, headlines of "national
media" gave the NDP the thumbs-up.
"They
(Al-Ahram, Al-Akhbar and Al-Gomhorya) are covering
another election, not the one we watch on Al-Jazeera or read about in Al-Masry
Al-Yom," Mohamed, a university student, told IOL, in a
sarcastic voice.
"Presidential
Choices"
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This
picture and many others, showing state-condoned intimidation,
appeared on the only independent daily, but never found their way
to state-owned papers.
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According
to Egypt's Press Law, Chief editors of "national press
organizations" are appointed by the Shura Council, whose head is
also the head of the Higher Council of the Press.
Both
the Shura Council and the Higher Council of the Press are headed by
former Minister of Information and NDP Secretary General Safwat Al-Sharief.
"Fact
of the matter is chief editors of these press corporations are picked
-- from a list provided by the Higher Council -- to President
Mubarak," a member of the Higher Council of the Press told IOL,
adding "security reports, not professional standards, are the
decisive factor here".
El-Sayed
Yassin, writer and consultant with Al-Ahram's Center for Strategic and
Political Studies, begged to differ though.
"I
saw no problem with the press coverage. Papers announce the results
they are told about by electoral sources."
But
the problem is hardly limited to covering results in a way only an NDP
paper may follow. Other professional flaws extend to campaigning for
NDP candidates in a way that violates the simplest rules and ethics of
the press and media in general.
The
starkest and repeated example is running an a promotional piece for a
candidate in the form of a piece of news or an editorial article,
without the name of journalist or even an indication that the material
is a paid ad.
Muslim
Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohamed Mahdi Akef may have summed up the
whole media situation during the elections by saying: "A great
deal of credit goes to state-owned media for their anti-Muslim
Brotherhood coverage".
He
was commenting on the huge gains the banned but largely tolerated
group are making in the polls.
Glimpse
of Hope
Observers
agree that the performance of Egypt's "national" media
reflects the deterioration and hard times the dominant NDP is going
through, indicating the hope for a free press lies only with
independent media.
Some
cultural elite and independent observers, however, have concerns over
how the regime might deal with independent media once the election
season is over.
But
the majority of them believe the regime will not dare to gag the
independent media as it has done for decades, due to a variety of
reasons.
"It's
too late (for the regime) to return to the closures of papers and
gagging of freedom-seekers. How can they control satellite channels or
the Internet?" insisted Dr. Sahar El-Mogy, writer and English
Literature teacher in Cairo University.
The
activist writer further said that the damage done to state-owned media
was "beyond repair", adding it was now up to independent
media to step in and forcibly lead the drive of change.
Al-Gallad
agreed, expecting independent press to flourish, at the expense of
national press that suffers professional stagnation and unilateral
vision of events.
"Fears
are there that the state may take steps to curb freedom of expression,
in a bid to decrease the huge damage and almost fatal blows that
befell the NDP during the elections.
"But
I think freedom is not a gift from any one nor can it be curbed by a
state decision."
Al-Masry
Al-Yom, whose first issue hit newsstands Monday, June 7, 2004, has
gained huge grounds as Egypt's first independent daily in decades,
during the election season, that kicked off months ago with the
national referendum on amending Constitution articles to allow
multi-candidate presidential polls.
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