Cairo Magazine - Free, fair and off the air

The heads of Egyptian television say that recent protests don't merit serious coverage.

Paul Schemm

On Sunday, 20 March, in the early afternoon, nearly 200 riot police lined the southern edge of Midan Tahrir between the Mugamma building and Sadat subway station. Several armored trucks parked nearby contained backup squadrons. Pedestrians were corralled between specially erected barricades and traffic in the already congested square slowed to a crawl. The police were taking no chances.

According to the U.S. Embassy, the 20 March demonstration protested recent fighting in Iraq. An anonymous Al Ghad party member, however, insisted the demonstration occurred in solidarity with embattled Al Ghad leader Ayman Nour. It is unlikely that the public will ever know the truth, for the one thing missing from the carefully staged event was any sign of a television crew.

On the evening of 20 March, and on the following day, no mention of the demonstration was made on Nile TV, Egypt’s government-sponsored television network. Coverage was also absent from Al Mehwar, the semi-private channel headed by businessman Hassan Rateb, and from Dream TV, owned by media mogul Ahmed Bahgat.

This is in marked contrast with the coverage afforded President Mubarak’s 14 March speech at the 2nd Annual Conference on Reform in the Arab World, in which he announced that the upcoming election would “enshrine the democratic march in Egypt” and which was broadcast in three languages.

Hala Hashish, who heads Nile TV’s 24-hour Arabic news channel, Nile News, says the reason for the gap is simple: there is nothing to cover. “What’s being done now is very illogical, in terms of political opposition,” she says. “The government has given the people a big chance to participate—why isn’t anyone taking it?” According to Hashish, no one has yet proclaimed a legitimate candidacy. “In order for there to be a legitimate campaign, a candidate must be announced to the government. Until that happens, everything is hypothetical. All we can do is investigate, ask the constituency what its concerns are, bring in experts to talk about what is needed in education, about what is happening in civil society.”

One week after the 20 March demonstration, another planned protest—attributed to the Muslim Brotherhood, but also rumored to have included Kifaya and Al Ghad members—resulted in the closure of most of the main roads between Garden City and Midan Talaat Harb. These too were ignored.

When asked why the recent disturbances have not been featured on Nile News, despite their relationship to the October election, Hashish once again cites the illegitimacy of the opposition movement. “What are they protesting?” she asks. “Who is keeping you from doing anything? What is the reason behind the protest? This is opposition just for opposition’s sake.”

The lack of coverage of election issues on Egypt’s other two major television channels may support Hashish’s assertion that such coverage is a non-starter for now. Whether market demand will sway programming decisions remains to be seen. According to Hashish, Egypt’s TV journalists are committed to the public interest. “We are definitely state-owned television,” she says, “but we are moving toward a logical approach to transmitting news and information.”

Meanwhile, the thirst for news is growing. “I want real news,” says Amr, a Maadi resident who requested his last name be withheld. “I heard rumors at work that the Ikhwan [Muslim Brotherhood] were responsible for the riot on Sunday, but I have no way of knowing for sure. I don’t even know if Ayman Nour is actually going to run for president. I get all my news from taxi drivers.”