By Safaa Abdoun
CAIRO: More than a week after a purge of top state media figures, opinions differ on the state of Egyptian media and freedom of expression.
Prime Minister Essam Sharaf had ordered the removal of notorious mouthpieces of the ousted regime, such as Osama Saraya of Al-Ahram daily and Momtaz El-Qot, editor-in-chief of Akhbar Al-Youm and Abdallah Kamal of Rose Al-Youssef.
“The new editors-in-chief and chairmen have come in with a [clear objective] of expanding the level of freedom of speech in the media, minimal restrictions are in place at the moment,” said Yehia Ghanem, assistant editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram daily newspaper.
“Before the revolution, we were bound by restrictions and there were people who defied them. But the majority of the staff did not do that, and self censorship was extremely high,” he explained.
“All this changed now,” he said.
On the other hand, the Egyptian Radio and Television Union staff do not share the same sentiments.
Presenter Shahira Amin, who had resigned from the state-owned Nile TV in protest at the coverage of the 18-day uprising that led to the ouster of Mubarak, returned to Nile TV with a weekly program titled “In the Hot Seat,” which is recorded outside the ERTU building in Maspero.
Her first episode featured an exclusive interview with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who offered the interview to the “girl who resigned.”
“I haven’t seen any real change,” said Amin, whose resignation was never accepted. She refused to return full time and left her post as deputy head of the channel.
“The changes so far are cosmetic, they are not deep enough,” she explained.
Amin said that the overall philosophy has not changed. For example, she said, people are still waiting at their desks for press releases instead of going out to look for stories.
“The same people are over there, editors are the same, the majority of whom were hired because of their connections and not eligibility, the same editorial policies still persist,” she said.
“Restructuring and training are needed,” Amin noted, aware that change doesn’t happen overnight.
Regarding the level of freedom of expression in the media, Amin said, “Red lines still exist.”
“Directions are still being given. Before they were from the presidency and the Ministry of Interior and now they are from the army,” she said, pointing to the fact that they are circumventing issues related to the armed forces even though there are things to be criticized.
Ghanem, however, disagrees, saying that they are bound by the law and regulations not to publish certain news regarding the army without their approval, “which also exists in the US and other places,” he said.
“Of course these laws must be reviewed, but it is not an issue of restrictions on freedom of expression,” he added.
