With the rapid technological innovations appearing at an unprecedented rate, media regulation worldwide becomes essential; and with it comes a change in the media marketplace.
Technological innovations have led to the appearance of new trends in the media sphere, such as digitalization, which brings new techniques that have led to the convergence of delivery channels, convergence of the industry and convergence of the markets.
New markets and the opening of frequencies to private and commercial players have made competition fierce between the various types of television broadcasting.
The introduction of private players to the Egyptian television broadcasting system such as Dream and El Mehwer has led to a change in the media landscape and has brought along a vital component: competition.
The absence such competition before was the reason behind the monotonous television broadcasting format and a broadcasting system with an organizational structure that was both complacent and overstaffed.
In Egypt, terrestrial broadcasting is operated by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU), which is a state-owned body heavily monitored by the Egyptian government. Yet despite technological developments, the ERTU still follows a typical bureaucratic structure that directly affects its management.
The governance structure of the ERTU is highly centralized and tasks are performed under very formalized and strict rules. This formalization hinders employees from engaging in the decision making process, hence blocking any creative ideas. Moreover, departmentalization is divided by functions where the goals of the organization sometimes conflict.
This tall structure means a high functional division of labor because the work is specialized and each employee is concerned only with his/her area of expertise. The chain of command is top down where the decision must be taken from the managers and employees do not have the freedom to make decisions, which in turn leads to standardization.
This mechanistic structure is an obstacle to the possibility of adopting an innovative strategy where there might be plans for innovation to provide distinguished programs to compete in the multi-channel environment that exist now.
The Egyptian broadcasting system needs to be restructured in order to influence the overall strategy. For example, the uncompetitive market and the government monopolization over the whole sector disallow rivals from entering the market and competing, which in turn discourages the application of innovative strategies. It’s a vicious circle.
Moreover, with its majority in the People’s Assembly, the National Democratic Party-led government controls any legislative changes, hence giving the government the right to keep relevant laws static. This means that there is no incentive to innovate and accordingly the market becomes homogenous and power continues to be concentrated in the government’s hands.
This bureaucracy is, however, not appropriate in the new media environment.
As Egypt goes through the current transition, the media’s organisational structure must move away from the traditional approach which focuses more on physical resources. Yet in the new media environment focus will move from the physical labor to human expertise and from hardware to software. This shift requires a flattened organizational structure which hinges on delegation and team work and avoids hierarchies.
Rasha Allam is professor of Journalism and Mass Communication with specialization in media management.
