Culture via satellite
Yet another culture-focussed satellite TV channel is in the works. Nevine El-Aref reports
The Ministry of Culture is launching its own satellite channel, to be called Al-Qahira (Cairo), in October. The new channel is being launched four years after the ministry established its own weekly newspaper, also called Al-Qahira.
Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told Al- Ahram Weekly that the new channel would be a "cultural rainbow reflecting different aspects of Egyptian culture". Asked to differentiate between the new venture and currently existing channels like the Specialised Nile Channel for Culture, Hosni described Al-Qahira as "another cultural minaret providing the general public with information about the deeper meanings of culture, in order to stimulate their thinking. In the same way we're never content with just one writer or artist, a diversification of cultural channels is also a must."
The ministry has already inked deals with National Geographic and French channel TV5 to broadcast some of their programming on the new channel. Other programming deals are also in the works, Hosni said.
According to the minister, the new channel will mirror Al-Qahira newspaper's editorial policy, which aims to incorporate a wide spectrum of cultural, economic, social and political views. Hosni also said the project aims to focus on programming that emphasises national unity and fortifies the nation's memory. "It will be a window on the world displaying Egypt's distinguished culture and civilisation in a highly professional and elegant way," he said.
Construction work is ongoing at the ministry-affiliated Academy of Arts on Al- Haram Street in Giza, where hundreds of labourers and technicians, along with specialists from the worlds of television and cinema, are busy establishing two high-tech studios. The channel's headquarters, meanwhile, will be on the Cairo Opera House grounds. The ministry hopes to have both office spaces completed by October.
Opera House director Samir Farag is supervising the technical aspects of this phase of the project, while the new channel's future chairman has yet to be announced. It has been widely rumoured that veteran media expert Ali El-Samman, the vice-president of Al-Azhar's Permanent Committee for Dialogue on Monotheistic Religions, is one of the candidates being proposed for the job.
According to Hosni, the rest of the channel's staff will be chosen via a rigorous admissions process, to ensure the selection of the highest possible calibres.
