CAIRO: The issue at popular Islamic resource Islam Online (IOL) was part of a “plan to diversify the website’s content and outreach and not an attack on the website’s progressive approach to editorial content, according to Mohamed Badr El-Sada, one of IOL’s founders and current board member of Qatar’s Al-Balagh Foundation.
“We are not against the current direction [of IOL], he told Daily News Egypt in a telephone interview from Doha, a notion widely believed to have been the reason for the dispute.
Meanwhile, employees at the Cairo headquarters continued to strike Friday.
The strike, which started on March 15, was triggered by news of mass lay-offs and that contracts which end on March 31 will not be renewed.
IOL staff members have also told the media that the strike was against the fact that the new management at Al-Balagh holding company wanted to impose a more conservative tone on the website’s progressive approach to editorial content.
El-Sada said that the decision to terminate the contracts of employees at IOL’s office in Sixth of October City was part of a board decision to develop the website.
“If a media [outlet] does not develop every two or three years it will lose it’s place because of strong competition, El-Sada said, adding that claims that Qatar wants to instigate a more conservative tone to the website’s content are “nonsense.
According to El-Sada, reports issued last year by SKOPOS, a development consulting firm hired by Media International, the company under which IOL legally functions in Egypt, suggested that 60 percent of the website’s readership comes from Cairo.
“It is inevitable that when you start something in a certain place it takes the shape and form of that place, El-Sada said.
He added that in recent years IOL’s content has taken an “Egyptian taste whereas the initial goal was for IOL to carry an international message.
SKOPOS was hired as part of a larger development plan aimed at improving IOL, according to El-Sada.
Strike continues
Meanwhile, members of the Egypt staff continued their strike in a bid to restore editorial control over the website or find the means to start a new website.
Last Sunday, an agreement was signed by Yasser Fathy, the lawyer appointed by IOL staff, representatives from Media International and representatives from the Egyptian Ministry of Labor.
In line with clauses in the agreement, all employees received their March salaries, according to Ayman Qenawy, head of the English news section.
The agreement also states that all employees wishing to resign will receive their severance packages. Those who do not wish to resign shall continue working and will receive their monthly salaries on a regular basis.
Employees wishing to stay will take part in a new initiative that will take the form of an Initial Public Offering (IPO), inviting multiple shareholders in order to carry on with IOL’s message.
According to Qenawy, employees have started brainstorming for a name for the new domain, the design and the website’s sub sections.
He added that those who signed their resignation, who he said amount for less than 100 of the 300-some employees on strike, are due to receive their severance packages on Tuesday.
However, the strike will continue until access to the website is regained or “we are given the means to carry on with the new initiative, Qenawy said.
Access to the website’s content has been barred to IOL staff since the start of strike.
According to El-Sada, IOL will continue operating from a virtual office around the world.
“New content and international writers will be added to our network in the next two or three months, El-Sada told Daily News Egypt.
While the Arabic content has been updated since the strike, the English content has remained stagnant.
In a statement released Monday, Cairo employees denounced calls by Ibrhaim Al-Ansary, head of the board of Al-Balagh, on Al Jazeera news channel to resign and then sign new contracts.
Meanwhile, according to El-Sada, some employees have already contacted Al-Balagh asking to continue to work for IOL.
“Whoever wants to join will be interviewed. We will start recruitment from scratch, he told Daily News Egypt, adding that under the development plan, Al-Balagh intended to reshuffle the current managerial and editorial board of IOL.
Budget claims
“During the last 10 years, the budget almost doubled from year to year which naturally raises question marks, he said, adding that the board of Al-Balagh had reservations about IOL’s current staff, some of which he said did not have the credentials to work as journalists.
At the beginning of every year, the budget is drafted by IOL then sent to Al-Balagh for reviewing and approval.
However, claims that Al-Balagh is accusing Egypt’s IOL staff of mismanaging funds have found its way to the media.
“With all due respect, the budget talk is rubbish, Qenawy told Daily News Egypt.
“We have two independent auditors who review the budget every year, he said, adding that there is no proof of funds being mismanaged.
Qenawy explained that what is proven in documents is Qatar’s attack on the editorial content of IOL, an example of which is when the funders complained about the staff’s coverage of Valentine’s Day.
According to El-Sada, the reports by SKOPOS “only solidified the facts .
“The problem is when people speak with emotions they stop being logical, he added.
