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The media of Egypt is highly influential in Egypt and in the Arab World, attributed to its large audience and its historically TV and film industry supplies to the Arab-speaking world. [1] A period of ease on media marked the last years of Hosni Mubaraks rule, but since the 2011 revolution and 2013 coup d'état, Reporters Without Borders said "successive governments have tried to control the media and have not hesitated to impose measures restricting journalists' freedom," in 2016, and "the situation of media freedom in Egypt is extremely worrying" in 2017. and while state media is "almost always loyal to President al-Sisi." and most pro-Islamist media have been closed, or now broadcast from abroad, [1] journalists and human rights defenders are denied access to parts of Sinai region, and are obliged to report only the official version of "terrorist" attacks under the terrorism law that was adopted in August 2015. [2] Following the 2011 revolution, acquisitions of media outlets and private newspapers by businessmen linked to the government started surfacing, initially with close ties to the newly in-power Muslim Brotherhood, businessmen then shifted in 2013 with the deposition of former President Mohamed Morsi to Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's support and regime. In 2016 the take over by businessmen linked to the government and intelligence services escalated rapidly; [3] and the regime's domination of the media is affecting even pro-government media. In addition to those acquisitions, the government tapped into the market with a major new TV network named "DMC" with a range of news, sports and entertainment channels changing the landscape beyond the "official" outlets that lost their credibility, [4] DMC also imposed a de facto monopoly over filming where other privately owned TV channels are denied access. [5] On the internet, Egypt banned at least 62 websites in a crackdown in June 2017, including Daily Sabah, Medium, Al Jazeera, The Huffington Post, and Mada Masr along with opposition websites, like El-Badil, for containing material that "support terrorism and extremism as well as publish lies", that blockade was followed by a growing list of censorship circumvention and VPN providing websites in addition to the blockade of OpenVPN protocol on a nationscale. The crackdown was condemned by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), Mada Masr and by the Index on Censorship. The ATFE stated that "the blocking of websites violates the Egyptian Constitution". [6] [7] The country saw a period of increasing freedom from governmental control during last years of ousted president Hosni Mubarak. [8] [9] Although Freedom of the media is guaranteed in the constitution, and the government was increasingly respecting this, however many laws still remain that restrict this right. [8] [10] Back in 2005, and after the Egyptian presidential election, Ahmed Selim, office director for Information Minister Anas al-Fiqi, declared the era of "free, transparent and independent Egyptian media". [9]
The printing press was first introduced to Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte during his French Campaign in Egypt and Syria. [11] He brought with his expedition a French, Arabic, and Greek printing press, which were far superior in speed, efficiency and quality than the nearest presses used in Istanbul. In the Middle East, Africa, India, and even much of Eastern Europe and Russia, printing was a minor, specialized activity until at least the 18th century. From about 1720, the Mutaferrika Press in Istanbul produced substantial amounts of printing, of which some Egyptian clerics were aware at the time. Juan Cole reports that "Bonaparte was a master of what we would now call spin, and his genius for it is demonstrated by reports in Arabic sources that several of his more outlandish allegations were actually taken seriously in the Egyptian countryside." [11]
The written press is very diverse in Egypt, with over 600 newspapers, journals, and magazines. However these are owned mostly or in some way by the government, the opposition or other political parties. [10] Several journalists from private newspapers have been arrested and jailed for breaching laws that prohibit criticism of the President, state institutions and foreign leaders, or "putting out false news harming the reputation and interests of the country". [12] However, unlike many of Egypt's regional counterparts, criticism of the government in general does take place, [8] after amendments to existing press laws in 2006 which however still criminalise libel. [10]
In 2009 an Egyptian court revoked the publishing license for Ibdaa ("creativity"), a small-circulation literary magazine, for publishing a "blasphemous" poem by Hilmi Salem called "On the balcony of Leila Murad" in which God is likened to an Egyptian peasant who farms and milks cows. It came to the attention of authorities at Al-Azhar University, described as "the government’s highest authority on religion", who then petitioned the courts, who ruled that "Freedom of the press ... should be used responsibly and not touch on the basic foundations of Egyptian society, and family, religion and morals". [13] Over the past two decades, Al-Azhar University censored more than 196 texts. [14]
In the late 1800s/early 1900s Egypt had journals in both Arabic and French. [15] In much of the 1800s Alexandria served as the centre of Egyptian journalism. [16] Circa the mid-to-late 1800s many famous literary journals were established in Alexandria, but moved to Cairo by the 1890s. [17] By the late 1800s the makeup of Alexandria-based publications increasingly focused on culture while publications focused on political matters moved to Cairo. [16] During that decade the city had twelve newspapers, and there were three new general culture journals that decade. By the 1890s the number of newspapers had increased to 39, and 19 new general cultural journals appeared that decade. [15] In 1899 Al-Ahram moved to Cairo, [17] and by circa 1901 publications in Cairo made up 65% of the total while ones based in Alexandria had declined to 28%. [16]
There are two state broadcasters and an increasing number of private broadcasters. Figures from the CIA World Factbook state more than 98 television channels in 1995, and 57 AM and 14 FM radio channels in 1999. The Ministry of Information controls content in the state-owned broadcast media. Egypt was the first Arab nation to have its own satellite, Nilesat 101, which allows the Egyptian TV and film industry to supply much of the Arab-speaking world with shows from its Media Production City. [8] The previously tight controls on state TV and radio gave way to even and fair coverage of all political parties involved in the Egyptian presidential election of 2005, a first for Egyptian media. [9] However, in 2006 several journalists working for the Cairo branch of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera were detained for investigating subjects such as police brutality and "harming the country's reputation". [10] [12]
Egyptian radio broadcasting (as in both FM and AM bands) began to serve in Egypt in the 1920s as locally owned radios. They began airing radio as The Egyptian State Radio on the 31 May 1934 in an agreement with the Marconi Company. In 1947 the contract with the Marconi Company was canceled and radio broadcasting was nationalized by the Egyptian government.
By the early 1990s, Egypt had only four FM stations, but the number increased to six by the end of the decade. In 2000 stations moving from the AM band and the introduction of private stations raised the number to ten stations as of 2006.
Radio has also historically been utilized as a political tool in Egypt beginning under the rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.(10) Nasser became president of Egypt in 1954 and served until his death in 1970.(10) When Nasser came to power he realized that radio could be utilized as a powerful political tool for two reasons. First, the illiteracy rate in Egypt has been traditionally high.(11) Using radio to spread political ideas, therefore, allowed a greater number of the population to hear his political ideas. Many Egyptians, both literate and illiterate, also enjoyed listening to radio, so this provided an alternative means to propagate his ideologies other than print media.(11) Second, he had the power to expand the radio to all parts of Egypt allowing for the dissemination of his political messages throughout Egypt.(11)
The main program Nasser utilized to voice his politics was the Voice of the Arabs.(10) This program was started on July 4, 1953 and was directed by Ahmed Said.(10) Said was also the chief announcer of the program and had a close relationship with Nasser and his administration. Nasser's political goals for Egypt were seen as strongly revolutionary and adopted positions such as anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, and anti-Zionist.(10) These positions were highly supported and strongly voiced on the Voice of the Arabs in the mid- to late 1950s.(10) This revolutionary propaganda influenced two significant events in Arab countries in the 1950s.
The first was when the Voice of the Arabs began a series of broadcasts in 1955 that called for Jordanian citizens to campaign against their countries involvement in Baghdad Pact and against their governments close involvement with Britain.(10) This resulted in the dismissal of General John Bagot Glubb, a veteran soldier and Arabist who had been in Jordan over 25 years, as a commander of Jordanian forces.(10) Although the broadcasts cannot be proven fully as the reason for his dismissal, it is strongly believed that the demonstrations that resulted from the broadcasts influenced the Jordanian presidents decision.(10)
The second was broadcasts from 1955 to 1958; which promoted revolution in Iraq.(10) At this time period Iraq had joined the Baghdad Pact, and Nasser saw this as Britain attempting to westernize the Arab world.(10) Due to this the Voice of the Arabs broadcasts were calling on for a revolution by the Iraqi citizens against the royal family and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said.(10) Broadcasts in 1957, in fact, called for the outright assassination of es-Said and the royal family.(10) In 1958, a military coup overthrew the Iraqi government and es-Said and King Faisal II of Iraq were killed.(10) The Egyptian broadcasts were not the sole cause of this, but Ahmed Said did receive a letter with a piece of es-Said's finger inside that thanked him for the support.(10)
After 1958, the role of radio as a powerful political tool declined.(10) By the 1960s radio had been around for many years in Egypt and the emergence of television created competition for the radio. Also, after 1970, radio programs such as the Voice of the Arabs reduced their broadcasting hours substantially. During this same period religious radio programs increased more than any other.(10)
The government has actively encouraged internet usage, quadrupling over the last few years with around 17 million regular users in 2010, around 21 percent of the population. [10] Internet penetration jumped in 2013 reaching 49.6% of Egypt's 90 million population. The internet is often used for political opposition, blogging, and lively debate amongst the public and by the media which can publish stories that are prohibited in the print media. [12] The Egyptian government does not widely censor the internet, though the state-run Supreme Administrative Court allowed the Ministry of Information and Ministry of Communication to close down or block websites that are a "threat to national security". [10] However, several people have been detained for insulting Islam, state institutions and President Hosni Mubarak during pro-democracy protests, as well as government officials in cases of abuse by the security services. [10] [12] On 10 April 2011, Egyptian blogger Maikel Nabil was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court on charges of insulting the armed forces and publishing false information after he published an article on 28 March titled "The people and the army were never one hand" in which he detailed cases of abuse by the military and criticized the Supreme Council of Armed Forces for undermining the revolution. [18]
Following the peace talks over the Middle East conflict at the Sharm al-Sheikh in Egypt, Al-Ahram was caught doctoring a photo that had shown U.S. president Barack Obama in the front to show Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak walking in the lead on a red carpet ahead of Binyamin Netanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan's King Abdullah II. Egyptian bloggers said the photo was "unprofessional" and said it was an example of deception towards the people of Egypt; others said the photo was an attempt to distract attention from Egypt's waning role. However, Osama Saraya, the editor-in-chief, defended the decision saying "The expressionist photo is ... a brief, live and true expression of the prominent stance of President Mubarak in the Palestinian issue, his unique role in leading it before Washington or any other." [19]
The first Arabic-language newspaper in Egypt was al-Tanbih , published by the French, and headquartered in Alexandria, around the start of the 1800s. [20] The first official Egyptian newspaper, in Arabic and based in Cairo, was Jurnāl al-Khidīw and appeared over ten years later. [20] The bilingual Ottoman Turkish and Arabic paper Vekayi’-i mısriyye (al-Waqāʾiʿ al-miṣriyya), was first printed on 3 December 1828. [21]
Egypt has long been the cultural and informational centre of the Middle East and North Africa, and Cairo is the region's largest publishing and broadcasting centre.
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt, serving from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the 1952 overthrow of the monarchy and introduced far-reaching land reforms the following year. Following a 1954 attempt on his life by a Muslim Brotherhood member, he cracked down on the organization, put President Mohamed Naguib under house arrest and assumed executive office. He was formally elected president in June 1956.
The ʻUrabi revolt, also known as the ʻUrabi Revolution, was a nationalist uprising in Egypt from 1879 to 1882. It was led by and named for Colonel Ahmed ʻUrabi and sought to depose the Khedive Tewfik Pasha and end British and French influence over the country. Despite a French refusal to resort to arms and the pacifist proclamations of the Gladstone administration in Britain, the uprising was ended by a British bombardment of Alexandria and invasion of the country that left it under foreign control until after World War II.
Al-Ahram, founded on 5 August 1875, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second oldest after al-Waqa'i`al-Masriya. It is majority owned by the Egyptian government.
Arabic culture is the culture of the Arabs, from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean in the southeast. Language, literature, gastronomy, art, architecture, music, spirituality, philosophy, mysticism (etc.) are all part of the cultural heritage of the Arabs.
Hamdi Qandil was a prominent Egyptian journalist, news anchor, talk show host and activist. Qandil started his journalism career in the 1950s when he wrote for the Akher Sa'a magazine at the invitation of veteran journalist Mustafa Amin. In 1961 he began broadcasting a news show called Aqwal al-Suhuf until 1969 when he was appointed director of the Arab Broadcasting Studios Union. In 1971 he left his post in protest at a government inspection of his technical staff. He later worked with UNESCO from 1974 to 1986, specializing in the field of international media. In 1987 he co-founded a satellite broadcasting company that later became known as MBC, where he worked for three months before leaving because of political differences with its management. Qandil briefly presented the show Ma'a Hamdi Qandil for ART, but left amid disagreements between him and his managers regarding Qandil's planned interviews with Muammar Gaddafi and Tariq Aziz.
Musallam Wajih Bseiso; in Arabic: Arabic: مسلم بسيسو was a Palestinian thinker, intellectual, journalist, and politician.
The Egyptian Radio and Television Union is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union.
Abdel Hadi Al Gazzar (1925–1966) was an Egyptian painter. He occupies a unique position among the artists of his generation. His membership in the Contemporary Art Group elevated his status as an artist through his utilization of social commentary in addition to the group's focus on traditional, Egyptian identity. This commentary is most widely recognized in his painting, The High Dam, in which he comments on the effects of modernization by the Egyptian government on society and their way of life. Since his death, his work has not ceased to challenge artists, intellectuals and critics both in Egypt and abroad.
Al-Qabas is an Arabic daily Kuwaiti newspaper published by Dar Al Qabas Press Printing Publishing and Distribution Company in Kuwait City.
Voice of the Arabs or Sawt al-Arab was one of the first and most prominent Egyptian transnational Arabic-language radio services. Based in Cairo, the service became known to many Arabs and non-alike, as the main medium through which former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser spread his messages on Arab unity and revolutions across the Arab world. Despite its unmatched popularity in most of the 1950s and 1960s, the service no longer commands a large audience and does not play a significant role in domestic Egyptian or regional politics.
The Unified Egyptian Communist Party was a political party in Egypt. The party was founded in February 1955 through the merger of the Democratic Movement for National Liberation (HADITU) and six splinter organizations. The talks regarding the merger were held without the HADITU leader Henri Curiel being aware of them. Once the merger was finalized Curiel and HADITU leader Kamal Abd al-Halim were excluded from membership in the new party. Curiel and Abd al-Halim were allowed to enter the party in 1956, and after the 1956 war Curiel was included in its Central Committee.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Cairo, Egypt.
Salim El Lozi was a well-known Lebanese journalist and publisher, founder and editor-in-chief of the weekly Al Hawadeth weekly magazine. Salim Lawzi, alternatively written Salim El-Lozi or Salim Al-Lawzi, died after being kidnapped on 25 February 1980, brutally tortured and murdered. His body was found on 4 March 1980. Neither precise date of death nor the identity of killers was revealed. But it was widely suspected that the assassination was ordered and/or executed by the Syrian Intelligence.
Pan-Arabism is an ideology which espouses the unification of the countries of North Africa and Western Asia from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which is referred to as the Arab world. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts the view that the Arabs constitute a single nation. Its popularity reached its height during the 1950s and 1960s. Advocates of pan-Arabism have often espoused socialist principles and strongly opposed Western political involvement in the Arab world. It also sought to empower Arab states against outside forces by forming alliances and – to a lesser extent – economic co-operation.
Al Ahrar was an Arabic weekly newspaper published in Egypt from 1977 to 2013.
The Syrian coup d'état of 1961 was an uprising by disgruntled Syrian Army officers on September 28, 1961, that resulted in the break-up of the United Arab Republic and the restoration of an independent Syrian Republic.
There were multiple newspapers published in the Ottoman Empire.
11. Chiba, Yushi; Media History of Modern Egypt: A Critical Review. 2010 pp: 8,11