17 - 23 January 2002
Issue No.569
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 17 - 23 January 2002 Issue No.569 |
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Al-Ahram:
A Diwan of contemporary life (425)
An international press fair in Cologne in 1928, in which Egypt participated, served as a backdrop to several issues which were of concern to the country's journalists: censorship, the press syndicate and the nature of journalistic discourse. The debates, which usually involved the government and party and opposition publications, played out on the pages of Al-Ahram whose own voice on these issues was highly regarded. Professor Yunan Labib Rizk* discovers how the printed media saw itself in society.
Press growing pains
From May to October 1928, the German city of Cologne hosted the International Press Fair and Egypt was invited to participate. The occasion galvanised Egyptian journalists into a flurry of activity, all the more so because the conference was to address many of their immediate concerns. Topics came under several categories: The development of the press, censorship, the writer and editor and the latest methods of news coverage; the development of the magazine; printing and graphics art; the origins and advantages of the press syndicate; newsprint as the primary material for the press; and photography and cinematography and their relationship to the press and news reporting.
Taqla
Heikal
El-Ghamrawi
Nassim
Hamza
Freedom of the press and the nature of journalistic discourse were as of major concern to journalists of the 1920s as they were to their predecessors and as they are to journalists today. Al-Ahram kicked off discussion on this issue under the headline: "They speak of freedom of the press and censure the language of the press." That Al-Ahram in particular should air this subject gives this article a special flavour. The newspaper's reputed autonomy, impartiality and sobriety stood in sharp contrast to the ranting, haranguing and mud-slinging of the political party press.
Certainly, this reputation gave weight to Al- Ahram's defence of the opposition press against the frequently-repeated government charge that it was "the source of evil and the enemy of the nation." Opposition is the bedrock of reform, Al-Ahram maintained, especially since "missiles on paper are far more effective than those made of iron and fire." For this reason it was now universally agreed that the press, "once the fifth most powerful force in the world, has become the third most powerful."
Apart from this, the article did not dwell at length on the freedom of the press, except to add, "The question is no longer a source of controversy or debate now that learned peoples around the world have unanimously rendered this freedom sacred." Because of the freedom accorded to it, it continued, the Egyptian press was a prime force in "steering the course of events in Egypt, educating Egypt, steering Egyptian policy and advancing the cause of Egyptian rights."
This article put greater emphasis on what it called "the language of the press." The issue was of particular concern at the time because of the tension between the Wafd and Liberal Constitutionalist parties whose respective newspapers gave vent to their anger through the mutual barrage of slander and baseless accusations. Al-Ahram was naturally dismayed at this crossfire which violated the principles and conventions of the press. Unfortunately, this trait remains as characteristic of the party press -- and sometimes the independent press -- today as it was yesterday.
However, Al-Ahram was loath to hold the press responsible for "the deterioration of the language of dialogue." Rather, it cast the blame on politicians and their inclination to "slander, slur and sully" their adversaries instead of using well-reasoned and substantiated arguments. "Politicians are the ones who have propelled the pens of the press in that direction and have set the rules for this discourse. The press had to learn their language in order to accurately mirror their views."
Politicians were not only responsible for the declining standards of the press but also for corrupting the public's sense of taste and decorum. The public was now fond of the kind of writing of "those who have made slander and fabrication the basis of politics," and now the trend was "to trade insults" rather than "to heed the views of those who abide by sound reasoning and courteous expression."
The opposition press was also accused of "inventing stories aimed at debasing the dignity of political adversaries." Again, Al-Ahram suggested that the pace for this was set by "the politicians and their demagogues." How this occurred was as follows: "In his meetings with those outside his party, a politician would unleash volleys of smears and slights against his adversary and, simultaneously, pour the smut onto the pages of a newspaper, which he would refuse to subscribe to or support unless it tainted itself with his colours. Yet, were he to see the same phenomenon in the newspapers of his adversary, he would unleash thunderbolts of wrath, charging that those papers transgressed the bounds of decorum and ethics and were corrupting the minds and morals of the nation."
Some press people took exception to Al-Ahram's argument that politicians were at fault. One of these was Abdel-Halim El-Ghamrawi, editor of the Wafd Party mouthpiece Al- Balagh, whose reply to the newspaper appeared in the following day's edition. El-Ghamrawi believed that responsibility for the decline in the language of the press lay with the press syndicate even though the syndicate was the first to caution the press against the phenomenon and "took great pains to stop it although its efforts were frustrated."
El-Ghamrawi argued that beneath the guise of camaraderie some journalists harboured such animosity towards each other that they were driven to reprehensible behaviour. "Tell me, in the name of the dignity and true freedom of the press," he laments, "what is your opinion of a newspaper that openly urges the government to close down the four weekly newspapers for which the parliamentary deputy, Abdel-Qader Hamza (the owner of Al-Balagh) writes, and then when those newspapers are closed down it expresses its deepest regrets that its predictions came true?" The syndicate, El-Ghamrawi continues, was responsible for this state of affairs. "It should adopt a single policy towards all its members and never favour one party over another. It should have raised its voice against all assaults on the press, for what befalls some newspapers today may befall other newspapers tomorrow as long as this state of affairs continues. It is sufficient to know that the solidarity among journalists abroad, in spite of their diverse political affiliations and views, is such that their conventions can determine how their governments must bend to their will."
Dawoud Barakat, the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram, also happened to be a member of the board of directors of the Egyptian Press Syndicate and, thus, felt compelled to defend the body. The syndicate sought repeatedly to treat the press as a single entity apart from other affiliations, "but it did not succeed due to the pervasiveness of political partisanship in that entity."
Simultaneously, Barakat took the opportunity to write about his recollections of the history of the syndicate and the difficulties journalists had to overcome in order to establish it. He recalled the day journalists assembled in the Continental Hotel in 1900, at the invitation of the founder of Al- Ahram, to found a journalists syndicate. "The correspondent of the Egyptian Gazette informed those present that British High Commissioner Lord Cromer 'is not pleased with your enterprise because he hates syndicates.' That message was sufficient to divide the journalists into two camps -- one in favour of forming a syndicate and the other openly hostile to the enterprise."
Journalists met on a second occasion, this time to define what it is to be a journalist. Barakat writes that in the meeting, one newspaper owner said, "I do not believe that term should be applied to a reporter or writer because he might be a reporter one day and a radish seller the next." The editor-in- chief continues, "When the reporters at the meeting heard this remark they abandoned newspaper owners and agreed to form their own writers' syndicate. They were strongly supported by lawyers and other professionals but as they pressed ahead with their project they came up against Abdin Palace, at which point their ranks splintered. However, the press eventually succeeded in creating the syndicate and then a press club."
During World War I the syndicate urged the government to recognise it. Barakat recalls: "The first response we heard was from the inspector of publications who told us, 'Come by my office and bring X with you.' X was a veteran journalist who shall remain anonymous but who the government official knew in advance would not come with us. However, the syndicate persisted in its efforts up to and beyond the end of the war. Finally, in 1920, it petitioned the government, specifically Premier Tawfiq Nassim, to concede to the press certain privileges that are enjoyed by the press the world over. Nassim agreed to some of our demands, which remain the only privileges the press has secured up to the present."
Al-Ahram reveals a number of reasons for the tension between journalists and the government. The government was putting the brakes on several bills of law intended to protect journalists. One was to accord those found guilty of publication offences the same rights as those found guilty of political offences. A second was to prohibit the preventive detention of journalists and a third provided that journalistic offences should come under the jurisdiction of ordinary courts. In addition, the government had still not officially recognised the press syndicate, even though a lawyers syndicate had been in existence since 1913. The syndicate was still fighting an uphill struggle to allow its members to have a press pass that would "enable journalists to fulfil the duties of their profession to the fullest capacity, whether in the coverage of official meetings or of various incidents that require extensive investigation."
In response to journalists' grievances, the director of the Press and Publications Authority met with the editors-in-chief of Egyptian newspapers and magazines, informing them that he had divided publications into three categories. The first were those that did not conform to public standards of decency and morals, on the basis of which he had the authority to confiscate them, prevent their delivery by mail and prosecute their owners. Moderate publications were the second category, and the press and publications official promised to use every means at his disposal to help obtain European and American periodicals from which could be derived "all that is new and novel, thereby elevating the morals and refining the knowledge of the nation." The third category consisted of those publications he described as "sophisticated," and which he pledged to back unreservedly. Certainly, the newspaper representatives at that meeting must have been mystified with regard to the criteria the government official used to divide publications into categories but they suspected that the main criterion was the extent to which they supported government policy.
At about this time, there surfaced the case of a journalist who went to work for a newspaper of a political orientation diametrically opposed to his former employer. This instance brought to the fore the phenomenon of poaching writers of political party newspapers having divergent views. Al-Ahram quickly moved to defend the integrity of the profession. It observed that there were many different types of journalists. A few were political commentators but most were concerned with the brass tacks of news and information gathering and, as such, "it makes little difference if the reporter is a supporter of a particular political party, an independent, a native Egyptian or a foreigner." But there were at least two kinds of political commentators: those who focused on foreign policy and those who focused on domestic policy. Whereas the former did not have to carry a great load on their independent consciences, the latter "was the rock which the independent journalist could crash into."
Discussion on syndicate demands and journalistic ethics continued as the date of the start of the International Press Conference approached. Then, in mid-April, the Egyptian Embassy in Berlin received an invitation, following which the government appointed the director of the Press and Publications Authority and the director of the Bureau of Civil Affairs to represent it at the conference. It issued instructions for a booth to be constructed, to be modelled after those of other participating nations. It also began to review the candidates the press syndicate nominated to travel to the German capital. These included Gabriel Taqla, Abdel-Qader Hamza, Mohamed Hussein Heikal and Suleiman Fawzi. The government pledged to ensure the necessary facilities for their trip "so that they can fully and effectively perform their mission."
Naturally, the international press fair was an occasion for Al-Ahram to publish all relevant documents in full, beginning with the invitation to the Egyptian government. This document made clear that such affairs were very much a part of German tradition. Germany held its first book fair, the Frankfurter Buchmesse, in 1564, and Leipzig followed suit shortly afterwards.
The second document was a letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the cabinet, urging it to approve Egypt's participation in the festival which would include a three-day conference on "facilitating understanding between members of the press." Participants in that conference would explore ways of encouraging visiting lecturers, student exchanges and field studies on the press in foreign countries, as well as exchanges of newspapers, magazines, scientific works and photographs. They would also discuss the possibility of founding an international gazette, the purpose of which would be to maintain up-to-date bibliographies of all books pertaining to the press published around the world. Finally, participants would seek to agree to hold similar conferences regularly in the future, "to bring together all men of the press, regardless of their diverse orientations."
This document noted that the Ministry of Interior would defray the travel costs of the members of the Egyptian delegation. It also revealed certain changes in the composition of the delegation: Suleiman Fawzi, owner of Al-Kashkoul, notorious for its departure from journalistic norms, was replaced by Ahmed Hafez Awad, owner of Kawkab Al-Sharq, a prominent Wafd Party mouthpiece. The syndicate's delegates would not be as fortunate as the government's representatives -- Hassan Fahmi Rifaat and Ahmed Rafie -- whose tour would comprise, in addition to Cologne, London, Paris and Rome. In the three weeks they would spend in these European capitals, the officials would visit those governments' press and publications authorities, "and all administrations pertaining to the press, the theatre and censorship of the cinema," after which "they will submit an exhaustive report on the aspects of those systems that would be appropriate to adopt in Egypt." The Ministry of Interior's letter went on to stress, "This will only cost the national budget minimal extra expenses, in view of the proximity of London to Cologne and because Paris and Rome were located on the return journey to Egypt."
Then followed several news items concerning Egypt's participation in the international press fair and conference. One reports that the Press and Publications Authority urged "men of the press, writers and intellectuals" to submit to the department or "to the Egyptian wing of the International Press Exhibition in Cologne," those journalistic and academic works that they feel "will enhance the dignity of the country and reflect the competence of those engaged in its journalistic, academic and literary life."
A second news item was the arrival of the two government delegates, along with Abdel-Qader Hamza and Gabriel Taqla in Cologne. However, the article observed that in the telegram received from Cologne concerning the inaugural ceremony, Hamza's name was not listed among those present. The newspaper expressed its hope that this was an unintentional mistake, "because Hamza met the owner of Al-Ahram in Paris where they arranged to travel together to Cologne."
As for the inaugural ceremony, it began at 11.00am on 12 May 1928 "to the strains of organ music, after which the governor of Cologne and the prime minister of Prussia delivered the opening addresses. All nations have sent political or special envoys to represent them," the report added.
Several days later, Al-Ahram's special correspondent at the conference wrote a lengthy report. He described the conference emblem: "a large, round eye, representing the eye of the world, which is mounted on large wooden boards along all the train routes and on the billboards in the cities." The exhibition grounds covered five square kilometres on the right bank of the Rhine. The grounds were "adorned with vegetation and an 85-metre-tall tower has been erected especially for the occasion. There is also a large pavilion, called the Pavilion of Nations, dedicated to the exhibits of the participating countries. Between the conference halls and the various buildings housing the printing presses, conference offices and the printing machinery manufacturing plants, a vast park has been built for visitors to relax in."
Naturally, the special correspondent dwelt at length on the Egyptian exhibit. He reported that when the government delegates saw the space allocated to Egypt, they protested that "it was not appropriate to the status and dignity of Egypt," and threatened to pull out of the exhibition unless the fair's organisers came up with a more acceptable venue. The organisers complied and gave Egypt the pavilion that had been formerly allocated to China and Japan, "immediately next to the area set aside for big powers."
The Egyptian delegation designed a huge door fashioned after the entrance to the temple of Karnak, with tall columns and hieroglyphic inscriptions and images of ancient engravings on the walls. In addition, the Berlin Museum agreed to lend several Egyptian artefacts and "eight statues whose importance, value and rarity cannot be calculated in monetary terms."
On Friday 1 June, the inaugural ceremonies were held for the Egyptian wing. Officials from Egypt and Germany spoke at this "very elegant ceremony," as described by the Al- Ahram correspondent, against a backdrop of Egyptian flags, Pharaonic statues and "excellently crafted showcases exhibiting old newspapers and magazines over successive epochs." Also on display were "examples of Arab and Egyptian news pictures, samples of calligraphy, current newspapers and magazines of all sorts, samples of government publications, survey maps and dozens of statistical documents."
Unfortunately, Al-Ahram reports, the Egyptian government representatives departed before the end of the fair, which was "not a wise decision at all." The newspaper explained that some 50,000 people visited the fair daily and that every nation's exhibit had intellectuals and journalists on hand to answer their questions "on the state of the press and publications in their country, on their government's policies and the levels of advancement of their nation and on their systems of government and law." It then asks, "Is there a place more ideal than this for promoting our nation? In view of the importance of this exhibition, was it appropriate to leave it to be guarded by a janitor and served by a student? Is it right that the Egyptian exhibit is now devoid of anyone competent to serve Egypt?" Al-Ahram was left to ponder, although questions like these always arise when governments approach such occasions with a purely bureaucratic mentality.
* The author is a professor of history and head of Al-Ahram History Studies Centre.
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