Category Archives: Media Structure

New Media Rights in Egyptian Constitution

Posted on December 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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

2012-634901510628147589-814

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

Leave a comment

Posted in Egypt, Media Structure

Tagged , , , , ,

Nine Egyptian Journalists Killed in Last Two Years

Posted on December 17, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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/

Leave a comment

Posted in Egypt, Media Structure

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Egyptian Journalists Still Have Restricted Rights

Posted on December 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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/

Leave a comment

Posted in Egypt

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Digital Divide In Morocco

Posted on December 16, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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

Leave a comment

Posted in Morocco

Tagged , , , , , , ,

Social Media’s Impact During Arab Spring In Egypt

Posted on December 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

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?

Leave a comment

Posted in Egypt

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

2M-TV In Morocco

Posted on December 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

2m_tv

One of the largest television stations, 2M-TV, is owned by the government. The station’s programming includes news, pop cultures and television series. But 2M-TV was not originally owned by the government. It was created in 1989 by the media conglomerate, Omnium Nord-Africain (ONA) Group. The company created the station with the hope of creating competition and diversity in television broadcast, as most of the stations were owned by the government at the time. At the time, the station was able to do that by discussing controversial topics and using freedom of speech. However, seven years after creating 2M-TV, ONA backed out of the profit because of financial reasons and the government bought 68 percent of the station’s shares. Today, ONA is now out of business and the government now owns 80 percent of the station’s shares and have moved into an online presence also along with a radio station. The television station is free for any Moroccan citizen with a satellite.

It is unfortunate that this happened to 2M-TV, it gave the people of Morocco a chance to view unbiased television without the influence of the government, but today it is owned almost exclusively by the government, which means a completely biased. The fact that the government also offers the station completely free to the population is another point to worry about. The people of the nation now has the chance to get a television station that is owned by the government for free, which is a better offer than having to pay extra money for a station that is independent of the government.

Leave a comment

Posted in Morocco

Tagged , , , ,

High Authority of Audiovisual Communication

Posted on December 13, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Until 1982, television stations could only be owned publicly by the government, which created extremely biased media in broadcast and destroyed any competition in business that there could have been. But all that changed when Morocco adopted in the High Authority of Audiovisual Communication (HACA), which allowed television stations to be owned privately by citizens and corporations.

Despite television stations now having the possibility of being owned privately, there are some regulations that came with the creation of HACA. If a person wants to own a station privately, first they must apply for a license from HACA. After review, HACA will then grant a license if the agency approves. A person or entity can then start their own station, but HACA also has a certain set of laws and regulations that must be followed similar to the FCC in America. Besides television, HACA also regulates radio. The agency also works to improve the quality of broadcasts from both the radio and television.

As seen with print media, the Moroccan government is extremely critical of what is published. Most media outlets are not allowed to criticize the government and with HACA the government can make rules and regulations that disallows for criticism for government. So while HACA allows for private ownership in broadcast media, it also brings a type of control from the government. It is a good thing for the Moroccan people that television stations are owned privately, but there is still not the same amount of freedom in the press that we see in America.

Leave a comment

Posted in Morocco

Tagged , , , , , , , ,

Propaganda in Egypt

Posted on December 11, 2013 by | Leave a comment

media-freedom

The current situation in Egypt is dangerous and unstable and it is affecting everything from the safety of the citizens to the stability of their media system. The Egyptian constitution states that freedom of the media is guaranteed, but many citizens know that that is not the case. There are certain topics that people know not to cover, therefore the Egyptian media system is not free and it never has been. According to the article, Media International: “Egypt’s media is a propaganda machine”, the countries political situation is starting to affect the work of journalists. Recently, people have been noticing that the current media in Egypt is propaganda. Many journalists end up writing for powerful higher ups and end up getting manipulated into writing something that they wouldn’t have written otherwise. This manipulation could be looked at as exploitation of journalists to a certain extent. A lot of journalists report in this manner to avoid getting in trouble or sticking out. Many journalists fear that they could get in trouble for what they are writing so they end up self-censoring which is not ideal for a country with freedom of the media system. It is sad that these talented journalists cannot report freely and that they are afraid of what will be the outcome if someone doesn’t like what they write. This type of manipulation by power holders is definitely a way for the government to keep a strong hold on the citizens. For a country that claims to have free media system this example right here proves that they are not. By manipulating journalists, they can get out the exact message they want to portray to the citizens. Whether it’s keeping information from the citizens to keep them safe or happy with the government, this is definitely a form of propaganda.

Source:

http://www.dw.de/media-international-egypts-media-is-a-propaganda-machine/a-17288479

Leave a comment

Posted in Egypt, Media Structure

Tagged , , , ,

Al-Massae Newspaper and Richard Niny

Posted on December 10, 2013 by | Leave a comment

The largest newspaper in Morocco, Al-Massae, reaches 170,000 households every day and is independent of the government or any political party. The closest newspaper in circulation rates in Morocco, Assabah, only reaches 125,000 households a day. Al-Massae became the most popular newspaper in Morroco in 2012 after Al Jazeera, a popular television channel in that region, named it as such. Since then, Al-Massae has kept that position and continues to grow.

Despite being the most popular newspaper in the nation, Al-Massae is relatively young with Rachid Niny creating the newspaper in 2006. Like newspapers in America, Al-Massae also features an online presence with a website and PDF versions of the daily newspaper available for purchase.

Al-Massae founder, Rachid Niny

Al-Massae founder, Rachid Niny

Niny created the newspaper in 2006 after working at Al-Alam, another newspaper in Morocco, that had a political affiliation. He also wrote a book and worked for 2M-TV, a government-owned television channel in Morocco. Al-Massae gave Niny a chance to report without any political affiliation or government ownership, but still found himself getting in trouble with the Moroccan government.

In 2008, Niny had to pay the government twice in fines for reporting on “defamation” and “public injury” when he reported on a public judge and a dean of the Rabat association in a negative light. But Niny’s biggest run-in with the law came in 2011 when he was charged with “disinformation” after criticizing the Moroccan Intelligence Agencies. Niny ended up spending a year in jail, and was released in the April of 2012.

This paints the landscape of media in Morocco. Newspapers and television stations can be independent of the government, but that does not mean that there will be no consequences for the way the public sector is covered. Niny wrote a few articles detailing the negative side of the Moroccan government and paid for it by spending time in jail and paying the fines with his own money.

Leave a comment

Posted in Morocco

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Military Involvement in Egyptian Media

Posted on December 2, 2013 by | 2 comments

One of the biggest branches of media in Egypt is state-owned media, which, like most things that are “state-owned” look to push a certain agenda, and in this instance, the state’s impact on what the media chooses to report is shown.

During the Arab Spring, Egypt went through a major revolution that began in January of 2011 and lasted approximately three weeks. Essentially, Egyptian citizens rallied against Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and his administration, which eventually led to Mubarak leaving his office in February of 2011 and being replaced by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, who eventually relinquished the power to Mohamed Morsi in June of 2012.

During this time, one of the major forces that was able to rise up and make an impact on the Egyptian people was the country’s military, the aforementioned Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. The  Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces at the time was Mohamed Hussein Tantawi (seen below), and it was widely believed that he had presidential aspirations, as he was the de facto leader of Egypt when the SCAF took over.

510px-Field_Marshal_Mohamed_Hussein_Tantawi_2002

While the people generally had an unfavorable view of the Tantawi and the military after a demonstration at the Maspero television building in Cairo, according to Egypt Independent, the state-run media instead asserted that the military was not the enemy of the people, but rather that the military was the savior of Egypt.

One reporter discussed the demonstrations, and said that “the state newspapers are of vital importance to those in power because their influence and huge resources, human or otherwise, at their disposal.” He also claimed that ““The ties of allegiance are still strong, and the state media still takes its orders from the military and the old Mubarak institutions like the State Security apparatus under its new name of the National Security Agency,” and that ” the direction is always in favor of those in power, and this is the case even without direct orders from above; this is their natural inclination.”

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Field_Marshal_Mohamed_Hussein_Tantawi_2002.jpg (Image)

http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/military-and-state-owned-media-one-hand

 

2 Comments

Posted in Egypt

Tagged , , , , , , , ,