Big plans for Egyptian broadcasting
President Hosni Mubarak launched more radio and TV stations, and inaugurated a brand new extension to the TV building in Maspero. Hanan Sabra attends Media Day
President Hosni Mubarak, Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif, Prime Minister Atef Ebeid and other ministers and prominent media figures attended Tuesday's 20th annual Media Day celebrations, which were held this year at the Egyptian Radio and Television Union's (ERTU) offices at the Maspero building, on the Nile Corniche.
As the celebration began, Mubarak inaugurated a new extension to the ERTU building. The original Maspero building is the workplace of thousands of television and radio employees, and also houses studios that serve the production sector at ERTU, as well as an information centre and a press centre.
The new 10-storey extension houses eight digital studios, four of which are currently operational, serving terrestrial, satellite, thematic and news channel productions.
On his tour of the new building, Mubarak was shown a documentary about the past two decades of Egyptian media. He also inaugurated the 1200-seat auditorium which El-Sherif told reporters would be used "for seminars and conferences, as well as screening movies and plays".
Mubarak also visited the building's new Museum of Broadcasting, which features displays of studio equipment that had been used by both radio and TV in the past. The museum also holds a rich archive of speeches by Egyptian leaders from President Mohamed Naguib onwards, as well as recordings from some of the most famous historical, political and social events, and the most memorable media figures in the country's history.
The extension also features new press and information centres, as well as a permanent fair for marketing ERTU- affiliated companies like Nilesat, Sawt Al-Qahira (Sound of Cairo), Media Production City and CNE.
Mubarak also launched eight new thematic FM broadcasting stations, and gave a green light for the transmission of a new "Illiteracy Elimination" TV channel. He also decided that the Nile News channel should broadcast 24 hours a day.
Media day is traditionally celebrated on 31 May of each year, and was first celebrated in 1984 as a commemoration of the Radio Union's 50th anniversary.
Towards the end of Tuesday's celebration, the president honoured 11 prominent media figures, including former TV Sector chief Soheir El-Etrebi, veteran announcer and former Satellite Channels Sector chief Sanaa Mansour, former ERTU chief Abdel-Rahman Hafez, and Chairman of ERTU's Broadcast Engineering Sector Mahmoud Khattab. Director Samiha El-Ghonemi and late director Yehia El-Alami were also honoured.
El-Sherif presented Mubarak with both the Egyptian Radio and Television Union's Golden Medal and Shield. Mubarak also received shields from the State Information Service, the Egyptian Nilesat Company and the International Academy for Media Production Sciences.
The Media Production City, meanwhile, dedicated its International Platinum Award for Quality (which it won in an international competition for media production held in Frankfurt a few weeks ago) to the president as well.
Al-Ahram Weekly Online : 12 - 18 June 2003 (Issue No. 642)
Located at: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/642/eg3.htm