 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 January 2000 Issue No. 463 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 6 - 12 January 2000 Issue No. 463
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Millennium Features Profile Living Travel Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Pressing ahead for a free press
By Shaden ShehabAlthough the press is considered to enjoy a fairly wide margin of freedom, some still feel there are restrictions that need to be removed and advances that should be made in the new year. Prominent journalists interviewed by Al-Ahram Weekly said the main challenges were the elimination of measures restricting press freedom, the employment of advanced technology and the raising of journalists' professional standards.
Salama Ahmed Salama, managing editor of Al-Ahram and a prominent columnist, said the Egyptian press faces three challenges. "The first is related to freedom; it will either be granted eventually or, if it continues to be denied, this will be a catastrophe. It is a matter of getting through the bottleneck," he said. "There should be all sorts of freedoms: establishing newspapers, cancelling provisions in the law that provide the imprisonment penalty for publication offences, etc. If this does not happen, we will not be able to have a leading position or compete with the international press."
The second challenge, Salama said, is economic and technological. "The press cannot depend on decaying financial organisations. The government should take its hands off the press so that all press organisations may be privatised."
The third challenge is to upgrade the professional standard of journalists, Salama said. "This does not only mean that journalists have to be acquainted with the Internet and the computer; they must also have background and knowledge in all fields, regardless of their specialisation. The journalist must be as informed as his source; he should not be a tape recorder," Salama said.
Said Abdel-Khaleq, co-editor of Al-Wafd newspaper, mouthpiece of the Wafd Party, shared Salama's sentiments, but said priority should be given to upgrading the standard of journalists. "We have state-of-the-art printing presses, but the main problem is upgrading the standard of journalists, which is the real challenge," Abdel-Khaleq said. "Journalism has become the profession of those without a profession. There should be rules that in order to be able to print stories in newspapers, reporters have to be Press Syndicate members held to accountability."
Abdel-Khaleq also said that "the advent of a new millennium obviously calls for the removal of all freedom-restricting measures, the abolition of imprisonment provisions and the freedom to establish newspapers."
Mustafa Bakri, editor-in-chief of the independent Al-Osbou' newspaper, believes that the main challenge is "the ability of the press to gather news and information. Even these days, information is very hard to get and then we are blamed and accused of publishing undocumented stories."
The second challenge, Bakri said, is for journalists to use advanced technology and upgrade their standards. The third challenge, in his view, is the removal of measures restricting freedom.
On a different note, Salah Eissa, a leftist journalist, said, "The traditional challenge is the ability of the press to compete with television. With satellite television, people have access to up-to-date news and in-depth news analysis, with freedom guaranteed."
Eissa said, "The important challenge is the removal of all the freedom-restricting measures that date back to the 19th century. These are irrational measures that restrict the freedom to establish newspapers and send journalists behind bars for publication offences along with criminals and thieves."
The concern of journalists to cancel the legal provisions that provide for imprisonment has its basis. Last year, Magdi Hussein, editor-in-chief of the opposition Al-Shaab newspaper and a member of the Press Syndicate's council, journalist Salah Bedeiwi and cartoonist Essam Hanafi were convicted of libel and slander and sentenced to two years' imprisonment after launching a fierce campaign on the pages of the newspaper against Agriculture Minister Youssef Wali. They accused him of "treason" for allegedly championing the normalisation of relations with Israel, importing sub-standard food products and seeds and misusing power to serve personal interests. Senior Al-Shaab writer and former chief editor, Adel Hussein, was fined LE20,000 for participating in the campaign against Wali, who is also secretary-general of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP).
In December, the Court of Cassation annulled the ruling and ordered that the three journalists stand trial again before another circuit of the Criminal Court.
In 1998, four journalists, including Magdi Hussein, were sent to prison before the Court of Cassation annulled the rulings.
The Press Syndicate's council is currently preparing a draft law that will be submitted to the government, striking off the imprisonment provisions and introducing hefty fines instead.
In 1995, journalists campaigned against Law 93, which included tough penalties for offending journalists. As a result, the law was repealed and another press law was passed in 1996. Under this law, libel is punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of one year and/or a fine ranging between LE1,000 and LE5,000. If the libel is directed at a public official or is related to his public duties, the punishment is imprisonment for a maximum two years and/or a fine ranging between LE5,000 and LE20,000.
