The media's long road

By Naguib Mahfouz

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I am perturbed by the fact that people often come to me and say they saw this or that on a satellite channel and when I ask them what local channels said about the issue I am told that they broadcast nothing at all. This can't go on -- Egypt's terrestrial channels should be the first to broadcast news that concerns us.

Egyptian viewers reached the age of maturity a long, long time ago, though this is something that our media organisations have yet to realise. And because the media shies away from publicising information it thinks might be unpalatable, news has been replaced by rumour.

That said I have, of late, noticed an improvement, certainly in as far as television is concerned. There are now several programmes that try hard to invite guests that represent a cross section of opinion, and so viewers are presented with a variety of different opinions. Yet a lot remains to be done before our media become a trustworthy news source.

We must remember that television is an invaluable educational tool, and as a source of information its importance cannot be over emphasised in a culture that still has many illiterate people. They are forced to rely on the television to provide them with news and an awareness of what's going on. And this, in turn, makes it a matter of urgency that those responsible for programming act in a manner that the viewers deserve. They must be treated with respect.

Based on an interview by

Mohamed Salmawy.