World articulate

Veteran layout editor Samir Sobhi remembers Hosny Guindy

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Exactly 17 years ago, the world was seething in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, with the United States' monopoly over political affairs leaving regional issues with no light at the end of the tunnel. It felt as if the world had really entered a tunnel where nothing could be heard but the echo of Israel's voice, Israel being America's principal beneficiary in the area. It was this, in part, that made life so difficult: that in the world at large, no voice could be heard from the region but Israel's; and Egypt having no newspaper capable of addressing the world articulately in English, Al-Ahram -- arguably the country's most capable and definitely its oldest press institution -- made the decision that such a paper should be issued. It was the form and content of the projected publication that determined the candidacy criteria for those who would manage it: their skills, experience and attitudes; in time Hosny Guindy, a foreign desk editor and graduate of the American University in Cairo, came to embody all that the nascent newspaper stood for. A historic moment: the powers that be managed to choose and mobilise the right man in the right place, finally. And the man in question was all too happy to oblige.

Thus Al-Ahram Weekly : a newspaper that managed to give Egypt a voice not only in English but in print, at a time when faster and easier media had all but taken over; how to compete with satellite television in keeping up with the second Gulf War, for example? Guindy managed to formulate the perfect formulae for a taxpayer's newspaper -- not, as had been the case with so much other Al-Ahram publications -- a mouthpiece for the regime. Taking into account the need not only for adequate language in a serious, persuasive tone but, more importantly perhaps, the analytical and in-depth edge that print still had over audiovisual media, he presented the full spectrum of political views, and paid otherwise rare attention to cultural and social issues as well as visuals. He also targeted a very specific reader: the English speaker residing in Egypt; largely through the Internet, eventually, he was to reach out to a much broader audience base. The Weekly was intended for diplomats, decision-makers, the movers and shakers who, even when they did not live here, had a vested interest in the country or the region; and it addressed them, as the staff's oft-repeated slogan goes, "from the Egyptian perspective". This meant rather more than bias, with an objective insider's take on major questions.

After instituting the pages and departments, and drawing in able young people who contributed to the conception of the newspaper from the first day on, success followed on success. Guindy had a gift for psychology -- the subject he studied at university -- and what has enabled the Weekly to go on since his departure was the strong basis he laid out, chemically indeed even alchemically forming a harmonious team able to work together productively and creatively and uphold the principle of providing unbiased, serious and in-depth information from the Egyptian perspective. Among the most pressing issues the newspaper has adopted are human rights, the Arab-Israeli conflict, women's issues and human development. It also paid meticulous attention to the arts, and covered social phenomena as they came up. No doubt the leadership of Mursi Attallah, who followed Salah El-Ghamri as chairman of the board of Al-Ahram, and that of Assem El-Kersh -- our current editor-in-chief -- are sufficient guarantees of the Weekly 's continuing success. Currently doing the rounds are ideas concerning developing the newspaper further in terms of both appearance and content, with new pages addressing the young and dealing with the latest developments in the media, for example. A genuine chronicle of Egypt and the region, in English: the Weekly will resume the tradition of quality Guindy established.