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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 November 1999 Issue No. 455
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Books Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Breathing freely
I support absolute and unconditional freedom of the press, for I believe it is the lung that allows the nation to breathe. This is especially true in this day and age: information has become the most powerful weapon in the world. He who knows wins. The press plays a crucial role in this respect.
The press, however, must also be responsible and honest. Those journalists who abuse freedom of expression to publish slander and calumny have no clue of the world we live in. President Mubarak has granted the press greater freedom than ever before -- anyone who reads Egyptian newspapers, whether national or opposition, knows this.
There is a necessary and perpetual conflict between the press and the government: the newspapers want to publish everything, right now, while the government prefers to wait until political conditions are opportune. This conflict has raged all over the world, and continues to do so. Such a situation is normal, under any regime. When the conflict becomes an attempt to threaten and silence journalists by force, and inflict exaggerated punishments out of all proportion with crimes of publication, real or imagined, however -- well, this is not the way press-government relations are managed in a democratic country. The conflict must never be allowed to escalate to such an extent that freedom of the press is stifled, especially in an era when censorship has become impossible.
Based on an interview by Mohamed Salmawy.
