Deadly exodus

By Salah Eissa

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The Press Syndicate elections, due on Saturday, come at a crucial time for democracy in this country. Just as we're all hoping to move on from an authoritarian and semi-totalitarian regime to a free and pluralistic one, we need to revamp our media. Right now, we have a hybrid media, one that matches, with its idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies, the chaos one sees in our political system. Some of our newspapers still live in the discredited "public mobilisation" era of yesteryear. Others describe themselves as independent, but exhibit all the symptoms of "counter- mobilisation". What we lack right now is a truly independent press; namely, publications that are faithful to their readership and abide by strict professional standards.

The Egyptian press suffers from many problems that have accumulated over the years. Our labour and wage issues remain unresolved. Our legal regulations are chaotic, and so is our professional scene. One of our worst problems is that the Shura Council still owns 10 newspapers, accounting for 90 per cent or so of the national readership. Those who work for those so-called "national" papers do not want to see them privatised, and yet they resent the government censorship and interference. How hard could it be, I wonder, to separate ownership from management in such publications?

Firstly, we need to remove legislative constraints on the creation of new newspapers. At the same time, we need to ensure that newspapers are not manipulated by foreign or local money. We also need to revive professional standards that are all but forgotten. These are all weighty issues that must be tackled urgently by the Press syndicate. So let's put people on the syndicate's board who have the experience and vision to see us through this transition. If we're ever to emerge from our state of "public mobilisation" into a period of a free and fair press, the syndicate has to lead the way.

* This week's Soapbox speaker is the editor-in- chief of the weekly newspaper Al-Qahira.