Debating freedom
During a seminar on press ethics at the Press Syndicate, journalists called for greater freedoms. Mona El-Nahhas attended
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Nafie delivers the opening speech flanked by (from left) Abu Melha, Helmi and Nawwar
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The principles of a free and responsible press, press morals and codes of ethics and the required role of press syndicates and unions were just some of the topics of a seminar held on 5 May at the headquarters of the Press Syndicate.
The topics were discussed through papers submitted by 50 Arab and foreign journalists. The seminar, which ended yesterday, was organised by the Press Syndicate in coordination with the London-based Arab Organisation for Press Freedom and the International Federation of Journalists in Brussels.
"The aim of the three-day seminar is to find means for widening the margins of press freedom, at the same time placing moral criteria on the journalistic profession," Ragai El-Merghani, deputy chairman of the Press Syndicate told Al-Ahram Weekly.
According to El-Merghani, the seminar comes at a time when Egyptian journalists are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the issuing of their first code of ethics. The Press Syndicate issued its first code of ethics for the Egyptian and Arab press in April 1953.
Discussions at the seminar were occasionally interrupted by criticism from journalists who felt that the topics were unrealistic.
"What freedom are they talking about?" says Salah Bedeiwi from the Islamist Al-Shaab newspaper. "Everyday, we hear about journalists who are arrested and tortured simply because they express their opinions."
Ibrahim Nawwar, chairman of the Arab Organisation for Press Freedom, admitted to the Weekly that press freedom in Egypt is still lacking. "But when we compare it with the press in other Arab countries, one discovers that the condition of the press in Egypt is much better. In Syria and Sudan the establishment of newspapers is banned. In Tunisia, many journalists have been imprisoned."
According to Nawwar, one of the factors leading to the state of conflict within the Egyptian press is the existence of two laws governing the profession of journalism. Nawwar told the Weekly that instead of having a law for publications with licences from abroad and a law governing the national press, we should have one unified law. Nawwar also suggested that the editorial policy of newspapers -- whether private, state-owned, or political party mouthpieces -- should not be affected by the views of its owners.
Nawwar hailed the seminar as creating a kind of rapprochement between Egyptian, Arab and international journalists.
The seminar was opened by a speech delivered by Chairman of the Press Syndicate and the Arab Federation of Journalists, Ibrahim Nafie.
Nafie stressed the necessity of abiding by moral criteria in journalism, pointing out that there is no contradiction between a free and a responsible press. On the contrary, he said, a free press is part and parcel of a responsible press.
Mustafa Kamal Helmi, chairman of the Supreme Press Council, a body affiliated to the Shura Council, of which Helmi is speaker, asserted that the Egyptian constitution placed great emphasis on the press and considered it a pillar of the Egyptian political system. "Article 207 of the constitution stipulates that the press should play its role freely. The article views censorship in newspapers and the banning of any publication or newspaper as being illegal," he noted. "The constitution gives journalists access to news and information without restrictions. The only authority to which journalists should be subject is the authority of law," Helmi said. Helmi pledged that the Egyptian press will continue its role in defending the rights of both the Palestinian and Iraqi people in liberating their territories.
On the fringe of the seminar, the Arab Organisation for Press Freedom honoured the memories of Arab journalists who were killed in Iraq and Palestine. Tarek Ayyoub, correspondent for the Qatari TV channel Al- Jazeera, who was killed on 8 April during the bombardment of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, topped the list of those honoured. Nazeeh Drawza and Essam El- Tellawi, who were killed while covering the Palestinian Intifida were also remembered.
James Abu Melha, member of the executive committee of the International Federation of Journalists condemned the killing of journalists as a war crime. "During the past 11 years, more than 1,100 journalists have been killed while covering armed disputes," he said.
