Monthly Archives: December 2013

New Media Rights in Egyptian Constitution

The new Egyptian Constitution was made official by then-president Mohamed Morsi on December 26, 2012.

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Articles 47 and 48 of the Constitution both address media freedom and freedom of expression in Egypt:

Article 47
Citizens have the right to access information, data, statistics, and documents, and to disclose and circulate them. The state guarantees this right. The right is constrained by the inviolability of private life, the rights of others, and exigencies of national security.

The law specifies the principles by which public documents are accessed and archived. It determines how information is acquired and complaints against information denials are lodged. It also specifies how accountability for such denials is established.

Article 48
The freedom of journalism, the press, the publishing industry, broadcasting, and other media is guaranteed. Their free and independent message serves society, expressing, forming, and directing public opinion. All this happens within the framework of the essential elements of state and society, the preservation of rights, freedoms, and societal duties, respect for the sanctity of citizens’ private lives, and the requirements of national security. It is forbidden to censor, terminate, or sequester the media without a court ruling. It is illegal to censor material that the media are putting out. An exception is limited censorship in times of war or public mobilization.

Despite these “guarantees,” there has been little done to protect the rights of journalists in these countries. As has been illustrated in other posts on this blog, journalists in Egypt are in constant fear of being detained or killed, despite the Egyptian Constitution promising them safety and freedom to practice their craft.

Of course, one could argue that restricting these rights is a necessity with the constant turmoil that is going on in the country. The Egyptian government may view the restriction of what the media can and cannot put out as a necessary evil to keep the country safe.

What do you think? Should the government restrict the rights of the media during such a hectic/dangerous time in Egypt, or should it stay true to the Constitution and let the media report on whatever they want?

Sources: http://niviensaleh.info/constitution-egypt-2012-translation/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Egypt

Egypt freedom of press downgraded to ‘Not Free’

123995618_51nFreedom House is an organization that is dedicated to promoting free institutions worldwide.  In order to do this the organization gives reports and statuses on the freedoms of every country.  In 2013 Freedom House downgraded Egypt’s freedom of press from ‘Partly Free’ to ‘Not Free’.  This downgrade in status speaks volumes on the contentious and ever-changing situation with the Egyptian government.  The reasons behind the downgrade were that Egypt has had campaigns to intimidate journalists, that there have been increased efforts to persecute journalists who talk badly about political leadership and there is a reduced availability of balanced coverage in the country.

The reduction of balanced news coverage in Egypt is related to when former president Mohamed Morsi took over power in 2012.  Morsi was a leader for the Muslim Brotherhood and appointed a fellow Muslim Brotherhood member to be in charge of producing a pro-government bias to the national media.  The Brotherhood’s newspaper, Freedom and Justice, became a platform to the overt promotion of Morsi’s policies.  Now that Morsi has been thrown out of power the interim government has seemed to go too far on the opposite end of the spectrum.  As mentioned in another blog post the interim president, Aldy Mansour, prohibited the printing of the Freedom and Justice newspaper and any publication that was in favor of Morsi.  By taking these actions the new government is doing exactly what Morsi did, which is restrict news coverage to only things that are favorable to them and that virtually eliminates balanced news coverage.  I find it a little ironic that Morsi was thrown out of power for promoting a biased media, but the new government is doing the same exact thing by not allowing news that isn’t favorable to the current leadership situation.  By limiting news from multiple and sometimes conflicting news outlets it hurts citizens’ abilities to see multiple perspectives on issues.  By not allowing this to happen the Egyptian government is influencing how they want their citizens to think, whether they realize it or not.  This absence of balanced coverage in Egypt is a huge hit for their freedom of press and because of that I feel they were rightfully downgraded to ‘Not Free’.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/egypt

Morocco’s hypocritical constitution

r-HANDCUFFS-600x275In 2011 Morocco passed a new constitution that guarantees freedom of press, but in reality this is not the case.  According to Freedom House, Morocco’s freedom of press status for 2013 is ‘Not Free’.  Freedom House explains the rating by saying that although Morocco passed a new constitution in 2011 that guarantees freedom of press this promise has not been fulfilled by the government.  Due to the vague language in the constitution it enables for loose interpretation of the law and hinders media protections.  In the same constitution that guarantees press freedom there is another law that forbids criticism of the Moroccan monarchy and Islamic religion.  If this law is violated it is considered a criminal offense and can result in prison time or hefty fines.

In February 2012 a Moroccan teenage student was sentenced to 18 months in prison after posting a cartoon drawing of the king on his Facebook page.  In that same month a man was sentenced to three years in prison for criticizing royal policies and calling the king a dog in a video that was uploaded on YouTube.  In both of these examples, it shows that the government takes this law very seriously and its penalties can affect ordinary citizens, not just professional journalists that write for newspapers or magazines.  With these vague laws in the constitution it can cause people to not know what their exact protections are when it comes to freedom of speech.  One Moroccan columnist said, “The freedom of the press is very relative and the independence of journalists is most often trumped by the interests of political and economic decision-makers.”  To avoid harsh punishments like the ones listed earlier in the post many journalists decide to practice self-censorship.  This is dangerous because it means that journalists are afraid to publish certain newsworthy materials that might be vital for the public to know.  I am happy that a respectable organization like Freedom House was not fooled by Morocco’s hypocritical constitution and has given their press freedom the appropriate rating of ‘Not Free’.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2013/morocco

http://muftah.org/freedom-of-press-in-morocco/

Nine Egyptian Journalists Killed in Last Two Years

Since February 4, 2011, nine journalists from various outlets around Egypt have been killed. All of the journalists had one thing in common: they were all reporters who covered politics in the country.

All but one of the journalists who were killed were of Middle Eastern decent, and the one who wasn’t was an English reporter who was in Egypt covering protests by Egyptian citizens during the tenure of president Mohamed Morsi.

In fact, three journalists were killed covering the protests of Morsi on August 14, 2013: Mick Dean of Sky News, Ahmed Abdel Gawad of Al-Akhbar and Misr25, and Mosaab al-Shami of Rassd News Network.

The other journalists who have been killed during the last 2+ years of protest are as followed (the date of their deaths are in parentheses): Ahmad Mohamed Mahmoud of Al-Ta’awun (Feb. 4, 2011), Wael Mikhael of Al-Tareeq (Oct. 9, 2011), Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif of El-Fagr (Dec. 12, 2012), Salah al-Din Hassan of Shaab Masr (June 29, 2013), Ahmed Assem el-Senousy of Freedon and Justice (July 8, 2013), and Tamer Abdel Raouf of Al-Ahram (Aug 19, 2013).

Unfortunately, the lives of journalists being in constant danger in Egypt is nothing new. Due to the murder of journalists — along with the imprisonment and detainment of others — Egypt has been listed as one of the five most dangerous places to practice journalism in the world.

Along with the murder of multiple journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists speculates that at least 40 journalists have been arrested or detained since the overthrow of former president Hosni Mubarak.

Sources: http://cpj.org/killed/mideast/egypt/ http://www.aljazeera.com/video/europe/2013/09/201391919134191802.html http://globalvoicesonline.org/2013/09/17/egypt-a-dangerous-place-for-journalists/

Greyson detainment highlights mistreatment of journalists

johngreyson-slider-680x340Since the removal of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi there have been over 40 cases of detainment where journalists and media members are put in jail without facing any formal charges.  Most of these detainments are related to media members that are sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood or former president Morsi.  However, in the case of Canadian filmmaker John Greyson I feel it highlights how this unfair treatment can have affects on anyone.  On August 16, 2013 Greyson was on his way to Gaza to film a movie but he could not reach Gaza because Egypt had closed its border.  While in Egypt he documented police cracking down on a Muslim Brotherhood demonstration.  Egyptian authorities found the video on Greyson’s camera and a spokesman for the Egyptian military said that he would be charged with “participating in an illegal demonstration.”  Greyson faced horrible conditions in jail where he shared a cell with 40 other people.  He was also searched, interrogated, beaten, shaved bald and refused phone calls while in jail.

Finally with help from the Canadian government and international authorities Greyson was released from jail.  During the protest to get Greyson out of imprisonment the Canadian government and several other organizations wrote a letter of support for Greyson that was signed by 311 cultural and academic figures from around the world.  Also an online petition was signed by nearly 150,000 people.  On October 5th the Canadian government announced that Greyson had been released, however the Egyptian military said he could not leave the country while under investigation.  On October 10th Greyson was finally able to get on a plane and leave Egypt.  I feel that this one example shows how unfair journalists are treated in that country.  In this case it was a foreign filmmaker who just got stuck in the country and happened to film the wrong thing, but this same type of harsh and unfair treatment happens everyday to journalists in that country.  I think the main point to highlight from this example is that Greyson was held in jail without ever being formally charged, but due to help from his government he was able to be freed.  Egyptian journalists are not afforded this same luxury and when they are detained without formally receiving charges their stay in jail can be indefinite.

Posted by Tyler Ainge

Source: http://cpj.org/blog/2013/10/john-greyson-detention-exposes-egypts-arbitrary-po.php#more

Egyptian Journalists Still Have Restricted Rights

When president Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a military coup after the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, it was viewed as a new era for Egypt, one where the country overthrew a dictator, became more “free,” and reporters could report on issues in the country without the fear of being repressed by the government.

However, the country has faced a ton of turmoil since the revolution. Since Mubarak was ousted, Egypt went from being under military rule, to president Mohammed Morsi, to current de facto president, Adly Mansour. Because of this, there hasn’t been much protection of members of the media due to what some people call “repressive tactics.”

Mohammed-Morsi_2322003b

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists a non-profit group based out of New York, things in Egypt stayed largely the same, even after Mubarak was ousted as president. Under Morsi, the CPJ says that Egyptian journalists faced “legal and physical intimidation” and “wide censorship,” which is something he said wouldn’t happen while he was in control.

One thing that Morsi was notorious for during his tenure as Egypt’s president was going out of his way to censor any and all opposition to his regime. In the short time that he was in control of Egypt, the CPJ estimated that Morsi filed hundreds of defamation cases against opposing voices and that his administration assaulted at least 80 journalists.

 

Sources: http://english.alarabiya.net/en/media/2013/08/14/-Repressive-tactics-still-threaten-Egypt-press-freedom-says-watchdog.html http://www.cpj.org/

Digital Divide In Morocco

As the internet begins to spread all over the world, it continues to spread in Morocco as the internet has become a huge medium for the Moroccan people, especially blogging. The government does not regulate or own internet sites like they do with newspaper, radio or television, which is a draw for people. The only sites they do stop from existing in the country are ones that are affiliated with terrorists and even let rebellious sites to post and exist on the internet in Morocco. Blogs are not regulated, so the people can say their believes and opinions on a forum seen by different people without being reprimanded by the Moroccan government.

However, the internet is still a problem for some Moroccan people as there is a digital divide in the country. Some people have access to the internet, while others do not have any. The Moroccan government has been trying for some time to bridge the gap between the digital divide, but to no prevail. A survey found that wealthier people use the internet more and the country would like to make it accessible for those that do not have a high income. There have been some improvements as from 2010 to 2011, the number of internet users grew by 70 percent. Many companies want to get rid of the digital divide and are helping to work with the government to push towards a future where everyone in Morocco has access to the internet.

Sources:

http://www.oafrica.com/ict-policy/the-use-of-the-internet-in-morocco-measuring-the-new-digital-divide/

http://magharebia.com/en_GB/articles/awi/features/2012/10/12/feature-03

Cultural Values of Egypt and Morocco

The Hofstede survey, which measures specific cultural values in countries, can be use to compare values in countries that have been surveyed. The website provides “insights on Hofstede’s research into national and organizational culture.”

The values are as follows:

-Power Distance (PDI): This dimension expresses the degree to which the less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. The fundamental issue here is how a society handles inequalities among people. People in societies exhibiting a large degree of power distance accept a hierarchical order in which everybody has a place and which needs no further justification. In societies with low power distance, people strive to equalise the distribution of power and demand justification for inequalities of power.

-Individualism vs. Collectivism (IDV): The high side of this dimension, called Individualism, can be defined as a preference for a loosely-knit social framework in which individuals are expected to take care of themselves and their immediate families only. Its opposite, Collectivism, represents a preference for a tightly-knit framework in society in which individuals can expect their relatives or members of a particular in-group to look after them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. A society’s position on this dimension is reflected in whether people’s self-image is defined in terms of “I” or “we.”

-Masculinity vs. Femininity (MAS): The masculinity side of this dimension represents a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness and material reward for success. Society at large is more competitive. Its opposite, femininity, stands for a preference for cooperation, modesty, caring for the weak and quality of life. Society at large is more consensus-oriented.

-Uncertainty Avoidance (UAI): The uncertainty avoidance dimension expresses the degree to which the members of a society feel uncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity. The fundamental issue here is how a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? Countries exhibiting strong UAI maintain rigid codes of belief and behaviour and are intolerant of unorthodox behaviour and ideas. Weak UAI societies maintain a more relaxed attitude in which practice counts more than principles.

-Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation (LTO): The long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue. Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth. They are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results. In societies with a long-term orientation, people believe that truth depends very much on situation, context and time. They show an ability to adapt traditions to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results.

-Indulgence vs. Restraint (IND): Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint stands for a society that suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.

According to Hofstede’s dimensions, both Egypt and Morocco are equally as hierarchal, scoring 70 on the scale, and are also equally as collectivistic, with a score of 25. Morocco has an uncertainty avoidance of 68 where Egypt scored 80, and Egypt scored slightly lower in Masculinity femininity with a score of 45, whereas Morocco scored 53. This means that Egypt has a higher propensity for avoiding uncertainty, although Morocco also holds a very rigid system for also avoiding it. The major difference in the two countries, despite the scores, is that Egypt has a more feminine society, where Morocco is more masculine; the scores are not so far apart, so we cannot presume that they are that much different from each other. The scores for Indulgence vs. Restraint and Long-term vs. Short-term orientation were not listed.

 

Sources:

http://geert-hofstede.com/index.php

Social Media’s Impact During Arab Spring In Egypt

During the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, social media was viewed as the thing that had the strongest impact in uniting the Egyptian people towards the common goal of overthrowing President Hosni Mubarak.

While it is widely believed that the protests wouldn’t occur unless they were organized on social media on sites like Facebook and Twitter, some people reject that notion and believe that social media was just a tool used by Egyptian citizens, who were far more important to the success of the Egyptian Revolution.

An article titled “Social media use evolving in Egypt” from Deutsche Welle looks at social media’s impact during the Revolution and how it has been used since, both by the people and by the country’s politicians.

After the Egyptian Revolution — and the entire Arab Spring, in general — social media was still used by citizens as a way to rally and show solidarity. However, while social media was viewed as something dangerous during the Egyptian Revolution — in fact, Mubarak shut down the Internet and banned Facebook and Twitter — newly implemented Egyptian politicians began embracing it, too, including Muhammad Morsi, who became President after Mubarak was ousted.

Despite this, experts argue that social media wasn’t nearly as important as previously believed. From http://www.dw.de/social-media-use-evolving-in-egypt/a-16930251

Eira Martens, a research associate with the DW Academy, carried out an empirical study on the role of social media during Egypt’s Arab Spring in 2011. She said calling it a “Facebook revolution” would be an exaggeration.

Her research showed that in addition to helping organize protests, social media – in particular shared photos and videos – allowed participants to form a collective identity. This increased a sense of solidarity and helped lower a “fear threshold” that may otherwise have prevented people from taking to the streets.

Another of Marten’s findings was that social media helped to compress the time frame of the uprising. “In the Egyptian context, Facebook in particular helped accelerate the protests,” Martens said of her research results. “The majority of the social media activists I interviewed believe that it would have taken a few more years to overthrow Mubarak’s government,” she added.

What do you think? Was social media the most important catalyst for change during the Egyptian Revolution, or was it simply a part of a much larger thing?

Music in Egypt: Traditional vs. Revolutionary

The music of Egypt is a Keystone of their culture. They credit one of their gods with its invention, and it was used by Osiris to help civilize ancient groups. The music is very distinct from western music, and in western music the “Egyptian Scale” was formed in honor of this distinction. The music was used during daily life in ancient Egypt, and is said to be at least 5000 years old.

“All the major categories of musical instruments were represented in pharaonic Egypt.” This includes percussion instruments like drums and rattles and a “sistrum,” which was used especially in religious practices. Wind instruments like flutes and trumpets were played, and even stringed instruments like harps lyres and lutes. Hand-clapping was also played in rhythm with the music.

However, today music in Egypt is changing; perhaps as a reaction to the turmoil surround the artists creating the music. Though traditional Egyptian music still exists, some artists have taken in other influences, especially influences from the west.

Okka and Ortega are two of the “fastest-rising stars in Egypt,” which has the Arab world’s largest music market. The two men play music I consider to sound like America’s rap music, but with a revolutionary twist. “The music is a rowdy blend of traditional Egyptian wedding music, American hip-hop.” “The singing is fast, often improvised and heavily doctored with Auto-Tune.” Because of the turmoil that’s been going on, they find themselves voicing opinions about social issues. The genre of music is called “mahraganat,” which means “festivals” in Arabic.

Their music can be heard playing everywhere, “blasting from taxis, rocking boats on the Nile and jangling from cellphones.”

Their music, at first though, was not about politics. They were at first sort of typical, dealing with drugs, sex and friendship. Since the anti-Mubarak uprising, their lyrics and songs changed. Young raucous people, mostly revolutionaries, began to seek out this rebel music. Some of their songs after the Mubarak was ousted include “The people and government,” and “Hit on Her, Yes. Harass Her, No.”

A man who watched one of the artist’s grow up said that “You don’t understand three-fourths of the lyrics, but then you hear a something good and realize the whole song relates to you.”

Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sJ5nFpiXYo

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/12/world/middleeast/egypts-chaos-stirs-musical-revolution.html?_r=0

http://www.phmusic.gov.eg/en/index.html

http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/MIRE/Introduction/AncientEgypt/AncientEgypt.html