Soapbox:

Unquestioned loyalty

By Magdi Mehanna

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When lies turn into facts things fall out of focus. And many things became unfocussed in the presidential elections when everyone seemed to be fibbing, most often about the neutral way in which the elections were being covered. Let me tell you one thing right away. Neutrality is a myth.

We cannot expect the state-owned media to be neutral in a country where the ruling party is the state. The state owns and controls the media and expects loyalty. Party-owned media also have their loyalties and cannot be expected to cover elections, presidential or parliamentary, in an even-handed way.

There was one attempt at neutrality worth noting. When Information Minister Anas El-Fiqi wanted to ensure neutral election coverage he formed a committee of experts and journalists. This was a commendable act. One result was that for the first time most of Hosni Mubarak's appearances were aired on Dream rather than state television. But let's be frank. We cannot talk about neutrality when it lasts for just 19 days every six years. We cannot claim neutrality when the state-owned media, including television, sings the praises of the ruling party outside those 19 days.

Neutrality will remain an issue as long as the state remains in charge of the media. This is a situation that cannot go on forever, something the National Democratic Party knows. But until the situation changes, and changes fundamentally, we will continue to tell lies and, perhaps more dangerous, believe them.

This week's Soapbox speaker is former co- editor-in-chief of Al-Wafd newspaper.