1

Reuters Institute Fellowship Paper University of Oxford

The Role of the Media in the Democratic Transition in Egypt: a case study of the January

2011 Revolution

by Nagwa Abdallah

Michaelmas and Hilary Terms 2010-2011

Sponsor: Mona Megalli Fellowship

2

Acknowledgments

When the Egyptian revolution took place on 25th of January, I could not help

but make it the topic of my dissertation. This was the point at which I

realized how lucky I was to be one of the fellows at the Reuters Institute for

the Study of Journalism (RISJ), University of Oxford. This fellowship has

given me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study a topic of paramount

importance, both as an Egyptian and as a journalist. I have indeed conducted

this research with great passion and enthusiasm. Through it I have gained a

deeper understanding of how the media can be an asset for people to

determine their future. This would not have been possible without the RISJ.

I would therefore like to thank David Levy, the Director of the RISJ, John

Lloyd and James Painter, and the RISJ staff, Sara Kalim, Kate Hanneford-

Smith and Alex Reid, for making this experience as invaluable as it has

been.

I would also like to extend my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr

Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre in St Antony's College,

Oxford University. Without his insightful feedback and understanding of

current affairs in the Middle East, this would not have been possible. I would

also like to thank my colleagues from the fellowship program who have

made this experience even more fruitful, enjoyable, and memorable. I would

like to express my appreciation to my sponsor, the “Mona Megalli

fellowship”, which has made it possible for me as well as other Egyptian

fellows to participate in this wonderful experience. I am also infinitely

3

grateful to my dear late father who encouraged me to take part in the

fellowship programme but passed away just two months before it started. I

would like also to thank my mother, my brother and my sister for their

decisive support and encouragement.

4

Table of Contents

Introduction

1- The Roots of Revolution

2- The Media and Facebook Emergence

3- The Parliamentary Election: Turning Point

4- The Media and Revolution

Conclusion

Bibliography

5

Introduction

There is no doubt that Egypt is currently going through a very critical social

and political phase, a phase in which the media play a crucial role. On 25

January 2011, Egyptians took to the streets in almost every major town and

city. The police used maximum force to crush the protests but unarmed

people stood firm against such an attempt. Since then, millions of Egyptians

have taken to the streets in support of the revolution. Egypt’s revolution is,

to a significant extent, the outcome of the media’s relationship with politics

and democracy. Immediately after the Tunisian Revolution took place in mid

December 2010, through to the middle of January 2011, young Egyptians

were joining the "Khaled Said" Facebook group’s call for an uprising against

tyranny, oppression, torture, corruption and injustice. The group was named

after a young Egyptian man who was beaten to death by police in June 2010.

That call was echoed on other Facebook groups, on blogs and on Twitter. A

number of youth protest movements embraced the call at an early stage and

started to mobilize support throughout the country.

This relationship between the media and politics had been recently revived

with the emergence of The Egyptian Movement for Change, known as

Kifaya (Enough). Since November 2004 Kifaya has called for an end to

President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, government corruption, and Egypt’s state

of emergency, which has been in place since 1981. It also declared its

rejection of the potential succession of the President’s son, Gamal Mubarak.

Kifaya planted seeds of protest in Egyptian society and inspired the

surfacing of smaller political initiatives (for example, the 9 March

6

Movement for University Independence, the Workers for Change

Movement, the Youth for Change Movement, Doctors for Change, Writers

and Artists for Change, the Egyptian Judges Movement, and many more). It

simultaneously paved the way for the massive protests that currently hold

the greatest potential for social and political change in Egypt1.

Social media and digital technology have been the main means of

communication and mobilization. In particular, the emergence of political

blogging in Egypt is linked to Kifaya. The bloggers served as Kifaya’s main

means of mobilization by spreading the movement’s ideas of political

reform and augmenting its efforts to document human rights abuses by

posting uncensored audiovisual and photographic material online. Email,

text messages, and an official website were also important tools of

communication used by Kifaya2. As their numbers grew in an atmosphere of

increasing popular opposition, rejection of an increasing wave of corruption,

and the slow progress towards real reform, the Egyptian bloggers put

pressure on the political system by tackling sensitive issues like political

corruption and human rights. They expressed all political trends -- even

those prohibited by the regime like the Muslim Brotherhood. They proved

to be a powerful source of information, capable of reaching thousands of

like-minded activists, or of rallying international attention to their cherished

cause.

1 - The Revival of Political Protests Movement In Egypt (Dr Dina Shehata, Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies) 2010 2 - http://egyptelections.carnegieendowment.org/2010/09/22/the-egyptian-movement-for-change-kifaya

7

The emergence of blogging has been associated with a fundamental change

in the newspaper business in Egypt. Some Egyptian newspapers, though,

have remained tools of state power rather than becoming foundations for an

autonomous public sphere. The emergence of independent newspapers like

the daily El-Masry El-Youm in 2004, along with online journalism, has laid

the foundation for pluralism. They gave citizens access to information,

argued publicly about core issues of national interest, set the competitive

standards in their field, and took pride in doing watchdog journalism.

Independent newspapers have reflected a kind of transformation in the

mechanisms and processes of journalism which link changes in the media

system to major political changes envisioned for the country.

In fact, the more political movements are established, the more the media are

getting involved. This transformation has become apparent during the last

two years. The precise turning point took place in 6 April 2008, when over

100,000 users of the social networking website Facebook joined an online

group to express solidarity with 27,000 protesting workers who were

demanding better salaries in the Delta industrial city of al-Mahalla al-

Kubra3. As the protests escalated into a nationwide strike, the Facebook

group gained momentum and eventually coalesced into a political movement

known as the April 6 Youth Movement. Making extensive use of online

networking tools, the organizers of the movement urged its followers to

demonstrate their support for the workers by wearing black, staying at home,

and boycotting products on the day of the strike.

3 - The Revival of Political Protests Movement In Egypt ( Dr Dina Shehata, Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies) 2010

8

Another important development has been the emergence of the National

Association for Change (NAC) which is a broad opposition coalition

pushing for pro-democracy constitutional reforms, created in February 2010

by Mohammed ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic

Energy Agency. This was another inspiring moment for online journalism

and independent newspapers – as well as the mainstream media which could

not ignore the increased public interest for NAC and ElBaradei.

At the same time, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of

internet users in Egypt. By December 2009 nearly 17 million Egyptians had

access to internet – equal to 22% of the country’s total population of 80

million4. Online journalism has been an effective tool of propaganda for the

NAC as it generated hope for political change in the country. The

independent newspapers also comprehensively covered ElBaradei’s

movements in order to compete with the citizen journalism which was

providing their readers with the information they were eager to know. Such

interest greatly intensified when the campaign for collecting a million

signatures for the constitutional reform began online, as well as in person,

and when the Muslim Brotherhood joined the campaign5. Even the national

newspapers recently acknowledged the necessity of covering the ongoing

opposition’s related events, but still from a different angle.

Against this background, this research aims to evaluate how the media’s

political role developed and contributed to the 25 January uprising. The first

4 - Internet World States Website 5 - http://misrdt.net, (NAC) website

9

chapter of the research will discuss the political, economic and social

elements since 2004 associated with the media that formed the background

to the revolution.

The second chapter will monitor the struggle between the media outlets of

different political and professional stances. It will examine how the media

outlets adjusted to each other’s policies and responded to political players’

strategies from 2004 onwards. It will try to figure out how the media dealt

with the legal, administrative and security penalties that hindered the

freedom of expression. How did the media crack the tightly sealed state

monopoly on information dissemination? In addition, it will examine how

the various political powers – whether opposition parties, movements or the

regime – used the media as a tool of propaganda, and how this relationship

has developed.

The third chapter will focus on the fraudulent parliamentary election which

took place in November 2010. This election was the main catalyst for the 25

January Revolution. It proved Mubarak’s strong intention to nominate his

son for the forthcoming presidential election. It also made people more

certain that there was no way to end the corruption and no place for political

rivals or political change. This chapter will portray the role of the media

during the election, which the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP)

"won" with more than 90% of the parliamentary seats amid reports of

widespread fraud and irregularities. The research aims to underline how the

media’s role in revealing the fraud in the Parliamentary election contributed

to the democratic transition in Egypt which led to the revolution. Have the

media managed to construct a professional identity separate from the state,

and elevate the importance of credibility in journalism and its independence?

10

Has it been able to create a filter between the state and its citizens that would

allow it to expose practices that could lead to unfair elections and

suppression of the opposition in Egypt?

These questions will be answered through content analysis of the daily

coverage of the parliamentary election by both traditional and new media.

From the traditional media I will include two different newspapers: the

privately owned and independent El- Masry El-Youm, and the pro-

government newspaper Al-Ahram Daily. New media will be represented by

the Muslim Brotherhood website (www.ikhwanonline.com), and Facebook

accounts: ElBaradei’s Facebook page, 6 of April Youth Movement’s

account, and We Are All Khaled Said. The research will cover a two week

period of election media coverage, the week before the election and the

week after.

The fourth chapter will try to clarify how the coverage of the revolution

differed from one media outlet to another. The answer should bring clarity as

to how the media are evolving and contributing to changing the political

landscape. It will help to show if the media created an atmosphere of

growing popular opposition as well as putting increased pressure on the

political system.

11

1- The Roots of Revolution

On 25th January 2011 the Egyptian Revolution was born, only 18 days after

the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was forced to step down. But where

did it all begin? Some claimed that the Egyptians were inspired by Tunisia’s

Revolution which succeeded in toppling the Tunisian President Zin al-

Abidin Ben Ali on 14 January 2011. Others pointed to Facebook’s role in

organizing the revolution, where the young activists from all over Egypt

agreed to make the 25th of January the day to start Egyptians’ peaceful

revolution against torture, poverty, corruption and unemployment.

In fact, the Egyptian revolution was not just sparked by social networks or

inspired by the Tunisian Revolution - it had deeply rooted causes that

accumulated over three decades of Mubarak’s reign in all areas related to

Egyptian citizens’ daily life. However, the situation had deteriorated

severely since the appearance of Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, onto

the political scene in the year 2000. Gamal enjoyed considerable attention in

the Egyptian media. He was appointed deputy secretary general of the

ruling NDP in 2000, as well as the head of the party's policies committee,

the most important organ in the party, in 2002. With no vice-president, and

with no heir-apparent in sight, debates on the possibility of Gamal’s

succession of his father were raised in the Egyptian media6.

6- BBC 3rd November 2008, Egypt’s ruling party keeps Mubarak

12

What confirmed such suspicions was the amendment of Article 76 of the

Egyptian constitution in 2005 which was requested by Mubarak. This

amendment allows multi-candidate presidential elections provided that each

candidate should first gain the approval of the majority of the members of

parliament, who were usually members of the ruling NDP. It was clear that

by this amendment Gamal Mubarak would become the most appealing

candidate to the presidency and would be supported by the ruling party and

the government-controlled media. Other serious candidates would be

disqualified by the NDP-controlled People's Assembly (Egyptian

Parliament) leaving only the less popular candidates. In this way, the

inheritance of power would be accomplished through a "democratic"

process7.

The rising star of Gamal Mubarak was very much linked to the deteriorating

state of the Egyptian economy in the last decade. As a political advisor of

his father, he tried to smooth his path to the presidency. He appointed his

businessmen friends into government positions and as ministers under the

Cabinet of Ahmed Nazief after 2004. He also adopted policies that

benefited him and his friends.

Unprecedented corruption was the fruit of this marriage between

businessmen and power. The rich businessmen within the NDP received

unfair advantages, including market monopolies and tax exemptions for

their projects. The government also sold the great part of public sector

companies for less than a quarter of its value to businessmen working for

Mubarak’s sons, or to foreign companies in return for huge commissions for

7- “Stage set for political dynasty in Egypt” 07/28/2004, NBC News

13

Mubarak and his sons or other top officials. For example, the former NDP’s

organization secretary Ahmed Ezz monopolized the steel industry in Egypt

by holding more than 65% of the market share. Such a monopoly allowed

him to increase steel prices 70%8. His wealth is estimated to be 18 billion

Egyptian pounds ($ 8 billion). The former Housing Minister Ahmed Al-

Maghraby is estimated to be worth more than 11 billion Egyptian pounds.

The wealth of former Minister of Tourism Zuhair Garrana is estimated to be

13 billion Egyptian pounds ($ 5.5 billion), while that of former Minister of

Trade and Industry, Rashid Mohamed Rashid, is estimated to be 12 billion

Egyptian pounds ( $ 5 billion). Interior Minister Habib Al-Adly is

estimated to be worth 8 billion Egyptian pounds ($3 billion)9. Mubarak and

his sons Gamal and Alaa may have amassed a fortune of up to US$70

billion10.

According to Global Financial Integrity (GFI), crime and corruption cost

Egypt approximately $ 6 billion per year and a total of $ 57.2 billion from

2000 to 200811. Also Egypt's score on Transparency International's

Corruption Perception Index (CPI) stood at 2.8 out of 10 in 2009, ranked

111th out of 180 countries12. It has been estimated that some 40,000 cases

of corruption are filed each year, but only 2,000 of them have been

resolved13. A nation-wide survey conducted in mid-2009 by the Cairo-based

8- IPS Corruption Watchdogs Bite Selectively 9- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Revolution_of_2011#Corruption_among_government_officials 10- Mubarak family fortune could reach $70bn, says expert, Friday 4 February 2011 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/04/hosni-mubarak-family-fortune - How did Egypt become so corrupt? http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2011/02/201128111236245847.html 11- Inter Press Service News Agency, 12- International Transparency Report 2009 13- Al Jazeera channel

14

Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies found that the

Administrative Control Authority, Egypt's official anti-corruption

watchdog, lacked the authority to investigate corruption charges against

certain categories of state employees. It also found that 47% of small and

medium businesses in Egypt were forced to offer government clerks cash

bribes in order to obtain business licenses and must continually bribe them

in order to avoid fines.

In addition, the regime intended to weaken the opposition parties so they

could hold it to account. The state-run Political Parties Affairs Committee, a

body dominated by the president and the ruling party in the Shura Council

(Upper House), controlled granting licenses to established political parties.

In this way, the regime not only sought to avoid public accountability, but

also to undermine the possibility of another political party developing into a

position from where it could directly challenge the political power of the

system.

In this way, the opposition parties faced challenges related to the lack of

clarity of decisions by the state-Political Parties Affairs Committee

regarding the acceptance of forming new parties and monitoring their

funding sources. Restrictions on all political parties except the ruling (NDP)

excluded them from a major role in governance; they also suffered from the

state media bias in favor of the NDP. Such a situation led to very limited

representation of opposition parties in the parliament and on local councils.

In addition, most of them faced serious problems in defining successors

after the death of any of the parties’ founders and financial problems related

to their limited public base.

15

Due to the increase of corruption and the absence of accountability and

transparency, Egyptians suffered from a worsening of poverty. A study

carried out in 2010 by the Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic

Studies pointed out that 88% of Egyptians considered their low-wages to be

the main result of corruption in Egypt14. According to a World Bank 2009

report, 48 million out of 83 million Egyptians were poor. Approximately 45

million live on less than $1 per day according to the report of the Egyptian

upper house (Shura Council). 20% of Egyptians live below the World Bank

poverty line and another 20%, who hover above it, are considered near-

poor. Nearly 12 million people are homeless, 1.5 million live in the city of

the dead (graveyard), and 22 million people live in slums15. The national

debt reached LE 880 ($150 billion) in 2009 which represented 73.6% of the

Egyptian GNP.

According to the Central Authority of accountability, the total external and

internal debt had risen to LE 1080 ($190 billion) a year later in June 201016,

while the gross national income per family in 2009 was $2,070, according

to the World Bank. The homeless children in Egypt are about 2 million.

More than 7 million children, equivalent to 26% of all children in the

country, are deprived of one or more of their rights, which include the right

to nutrition, water and sanitation facilities, access to basic health care

services, shelter, education, participation and protection. A recent UNICEF

14- Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic studies’ report 2010 15- 2009 report of the Egyptian Central Authority for Mobilization and Statistics 16- Gawdet El Malet, the head of the Egyptian Central Authority of accountability, El-Masry El-Youm Newspaper, 15 February 2011

16

report estimates that 23% of children under 15 live on less than one dollar a

day17.

The economic growth which reached an estimated 5.2% in 2010 has had

only a limited impact on the poor in Egypt. They have been marginalized

generation after generation.

The low educational attainment especially in the lower educational system

where accountability is absent represents the key factor in transmitting

poverty across generations. The UNICEF report describes education as “the

most obstinate divide that discriminates across society between the haves

and the have-nots”.

The World Bank estimated that spending on education by families is 2.5

times the amount spent by the government and 39% of families spend more

than half of their income on private tutoring; even the very poor find that

they have to set aside a big portion of their small incomes to pay for lessons.

Nearly 27% of young people aged 18-29 have not completed basic

education, 17% have dropped out of school before completing basic

education and 10% have never been enrolled. Still around 29% of Egyptians

are illiterate18.

According to the latest statistics, 9.4% of the Egyptians in 2009 were

unemployed, of whom 90% were less than 30 years-old. The unemployment

rate among those with an intermediate qualification reached 62.4% of the

17- UNICEF Report 2009 on Child Poverty and disparities in Egypt: Building the Social Infrastructure for Egypt’s Future http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Egypt_English_Fullreport_Childpovert.pdf 18 - Ibid.

17

total unemployed in 200719. Every year around 700,000 new graduates

chase 200,000 jobs. Unemployment lead to political apathy, as evidenced in

the extremely low youth participation rates in elections.

However, what really contributed to the increased feelings of discontent was

the continuation of the State of Emergency which had been in place since

Hosni Mubarak became president in October 1981, immediately after

Anwar El Sadat’s assassination. The trial of civilians before special and

military courts, the spread of the torture in police stations, prisons and the

detention centers, and the violation of freedoms of association and

expression all continued. According to the emergency law, the interior

ministry suspended basic rights by prohibiting demonstrations and detaining

people indefinitely without charge. The right of freedoms and personal

security were violated on a large-scale and in a systematic way inside the

police stations and prisons. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights

(EOHR) monitored in 2009 about 118 torture cases and 46 cases of

persecutions and illegal detentions. It referred to 17,000 political prisoners

detained under this law. The Unit 2010 democracy index ranked Egypt

138th out of 167 countries, putting it among the 50 countries in the index

considered ‘authoritarian’20.

The Egyptian government has periodically justified the need to extend the

state of emergency on the basis of continued terrorist threats, most recently

on May 11, 2010, when it renewed the law for a further two years with the

justification that terrorists had “targeted the state, seeking to undermine its 19- Egypt Human Development Report 2010 20- The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), The Economist, Democracy index 2010 Democracy in retreat

18

foundations over the last three decades and the application of the emergency

law has spared the nation the threats of terrorism21.

However, civil society has been steadily gaining strength in Egypt. For

example, the number of NGOs stood at some 27,000 in 2010. They are

active in the political arena, especially on human rights issues. Civil

movements combating corruption and enhancing transparency have also

grown over the past years, such as “Egyptians against corruption”. While

there has been an increased freedom for such advocacy groups, their space

has been constrained, as arrests of political groups and bloggers were

widely exercised. However, it is worth noting that such arrests were focused

on activities dealing with the political system and human rights. Civil

society and journalists working to uncover corruption in Egypt were

hampered by the government's reluctance to disclose information and

records. Laws prohibit unauthorized dissemination of official documents or

reporting on the undisclosed assets of government officials. Human rights

defenders, including lawyers, who sought to expose abuses or defend torture

victims were harassed and prosecuted by the authorities. Yet despite the

growth in numbers, they suffered constraints that prevented most of them

from making much impact. The provisions of Law 84/2000 authorize the

state to interfere in internal management of civil society organizations22.

21- Amnesty International’s Report 2010

22 Ibid,

19

A number of disasters occurred in the last few years that convinced many of

the incompetence of the regime. In September 2008 a rockslide killed at

least 119 residents of Al-Duwayqa, one of the most miserable places where

Egyptians live in Cairo. This reminded the general public of the risks

facing many of Egypt’s slum-dwellers. Mamdouh Ismail is the owner of a

ferry which caught fire in the Red Sea between Egypt and Saudi Arabia in

February 2006; 1,029 died in the accident. Ismail, who was among

Mubarak’s appointees to the upper house of parliament, was found guilty of

manslaughter and sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 201023. He fled

to London and as far as we know, his money followed him.

Above all, poverty greatly deteriorated the quality of life of the ordinary

citizen in Egypt, which in turn, caused confrontation between the

government and the people in the form of strikes and protests. The price of

food added to the pressures on Egyptians. In July 2010 rice prices increased

by 14%, leading to an overall increase of 31% since May 2010; meat prices

also increased by 100% in 2010 to reach 75 Egyptian pounds ($ 30). Since

2008 up to 15 million new names had to be added to people eligible to

receive subsidized oil, sugar, rice and tea.

The result was an unprecedented wave of strikes by civil servants and

workers. From 2004 to 2008 more than 1,900 strikes took place and an

estimated 1.7 million workers were involved. The strikes began in the

clothing and textile sectors, and moved on to building and transport

workers, food processing workers, even workers on the Cairo underground.

Protesters’ demands were focused on the issues of pay and benefits and the

23- El-Masry El-Youm 22-02-2011, 2-02-2011

20

government usually tried to satisfy them to prevent their anger from

acquiring a more political hue. Yet some protests led to violent clashes

between police and demonstrators, and some protesters were prosecuted

before emergency courts. Pro-labor NGOs played a critical role in providing

support and guidance to these strikes and protests. As a result, they were

targeted by the regime, their offices closed and leaders arrested.

The traditional working class from all corners of the country continued to

provoke and inspire dissident activity after these events, causing people to

occupy pavements outside parliament for weeks on end to highlight the

devastating impact of the neo-liberal reforms pursued by the ruling NDP

party. Some trade unions – most notably the real estate tax collectors –

managed to break free from state control.

All the above mentioned elements contributed to the revolution as they

increased the people’s discontent. More and more Egyptians were ready to

join the revolt as they could not see a way out of their miserable reality.

21

2. The Media and Facebook’s Emergence

In the last eight years, the media landscape in Egypt has witnessed a

fundamental change. Satellite television has become more accessible as well

as the Internet. The media have taken on an increased role in the political

system. The private sector’s role in the media has expanded. The

independent newspapers have become more readable nationwide with the

emergence of the respectable daily El-Masry El-Youm in 2004. Widely

heralded as a revelation, El-Masry El-Youm introduced higher journalistic

standards and an independent intellectual rigour to the business of reporting

society and politics in Egypt. It has founded a market for an independent,

professional “newspaper of record” challenging the Egyptian press to keep

pace with its coverage, professional salaries, and reputation24. Free of

political influence, the paper has provided reliable coverage on issues that

are important to the Egyptian people. It has also provided multiple

viewpoints on controversial topics, civil liberties, human rights and political

reform.

The most significant example of this type of coverage was the paper's

reporting of the Egypt's 2005 parliamentary elections. The elections came at

a time when Egypt's ruling NDP was trying to improve its international

image by allowing candidates to run against President Hosni Mubarak in the

presidential elections of 2006. However, when the results of the first-round

of the parliamentary election showed large gains for the Muslim

Brotherhood, the regime responded by heavily interfering in the next rounds

24- How Al Jazeera is challenging and improving Egyptian journalism (Part One) by Courtney Radsch 22nd June, 2007

22

of voting. Many polling stations were closed or overwhelmed by violence by

hired thugs and state security forces.

On 24th November 2005, El-Masry El-Youm published a first-hand account

of the election fraud on its front page. The story struck such a chord with

Egyptians that it was republished for three days in a row. It revealed the

truth behind the government's electoral practices, prompting a national

debate that inspired 120 judges to sign a statement attesting to the veracity of

the allegations against the government. El-Masry El-Youm had only been in

existence for slightly over a year during the reporting of the government

scandal. In January 2005, the paper’s circulation was only 3,000 per day and

it was increasing steadily by 500 copies a month but, after publishing this

story, it jumped to 30,00025. The success of El-Masry El-Youm was

followed by the emergence of more independent newspapers, like El Dostor

in 2005, El Badeel in 2007, El Youm El Saba’ a in 2008 and El Shorouk in

2009.

The demand for autonomy from journalists from independent newspapers

shifted the relative power of the socio-political forces in Egypt. A

journalistic field, distinct from the political field, emerged and a journalistic

identity developed. The independent newspapers increasingly appealed to

the audience for validation, elevating the importance of credibility and

independence in journalism, creating a new filtration layer between the state

and its citizens, and exposing official corruption and malfeasance. They

emphasize live reporting, report on ordinary people, and their sophisticated

aesthetics broke the political and cultural taboos. This also meant that

25- Al-Masry Al-Youm: Transforming the Egyptian Press, January 28, 2011

23

Egyptians had access to media other than the three major state-run daily

newspapers: Al-Ahram, Al Akhbar, and Al Gomhuria, which have

dominated Egypt's newspaper industry and served to celebrate the ruling

regime and attempted to marginalize the political opposition since the 1952

revolution.

The independent press took the leading role in changing the media landscape

in Egypt. However, online journalism played a major role too. Since the turn

of the 21st century, the competition among the information producers in

Egypt has intensified and citizen journalism on the Internet emerged as an

alternative to the mainstream press26. In the light of recent events in Egypt,

by April 2008, out of a total of 490,000 blogs in the Middle East27 160,000

were Egyptian. As their number grew, an atmosphere of growing popular

opposition emerged with the rejection of the prevalent wave of corruption

and slow progress of real reform. Blogs have demonstrated enormous

potential as an advocacy tool and, more broadly, as an alternative source of

news. Bloggers have broken into the tightly sealed state monopoly on

information dissemination, breaking stories in many cases before the

mainstream press.

The Egyptian bloggers put pressure on the political system by tackling

sensitive political, corruption and human rights issues. A significant increase

in blogging was observed during major public events, suggesting the

existence of a strong correlation between politics and blogging activities in

Egypt. Blogging as a phenomenon was not born in a vacuum but has

26- How Al Jazeera is challenging and improving Egyptian journalism (Part One) by Courtney Radsch 22.June, 2007 27- Information and Decision Support Center in May 2008

24

emerged as an extension of the existing popular movements, whether the

country's modest street opposition movement, “Kifaya”, or even the banned

Muslim Brotherhood, which has equally embraced the web and the

blogosphere. Together with e-mail and text messaging, blogging has

undeniably changed the way in which activism is carried out.

In fact, activists in Egypt relied on blogs to discover the time and place of

future demonstrations, to learn who had been arrested and where they had

been taken, and to debate the effectiveness of opposition strategies. In short,

Egypt's bloggers have become a political force, capable of more than merely

commenting from the sidelines. According to a study released by the

government-run Information and Decision Support Center in May 2008,

from 2006 to 2008, a number of demonstrations and expressions of real

political protest were associated in one way or another with cyber-protests

on the Internet, tapping into the massive public mobilization of the youth via

political blogs.

Bloggers have also been leading the media business to controversial stories

and issues. They will write about a topic which will then be picked up by

newspapers, satellite television, and other media to which ordinary

Egyptians have more access than the internet. In this way, bloggers are

facilitating a new flow of information28.

28- Social networking, political action and its real impact in Egypt, 21-03-2010

25

It was in late December 2006 that a simple act of uploading a video to a blog

known as Demagh MAK (Open mind) unleashed a storm of attention among

activists and journalists. The video showed two police officers supervising

the sexual assault of a detainee, the taxi driver Ali Mohamed (known to his

friends as Emad al-Kabir). The video was posted on YouTube and was

finally picked up by the independent Egyptian newspapers as well as Arab

satellite channels such as Al Jazeera and Dream TV. The two police officers

who had supervised the abuse of Emad El-Kabir were detained, their case

was transferred to a criminal court and they were sentenced to 3 years’

imprisonment29. In spring 2006, just a few months before the presidential

election, at least six bloggers were arrested in connection with peaceful

demonstrations in solidarity with senior judges demanding the independence

of the judiciary from the executive authority. Although the bloggers were

not explicitly picked up for their writings, their arrests revealed the deep

links between electronic activism and the street at large.

In 2007, the authorities focused unprecedented attention on the independent

press and bloggers, which had become a source of growing concern among

top government officials. Their vitality and rising popularity have come at

the expense of the state-run papers, which have been held back by their own

sluggishness and financial corruption. The authorities appeared bent on

setting tighter boundaries for the independent press and bloggers, whose

numbers and influence have grown.

29- www.thenation.com, Bloggers against Torture, February 19, 2007

26

For example, rumours about the health of President Mubarak spread

nationwide via the independent press in August 2007 after he had not been

seen in public for several days and his administration offered no explanation.

The authorities intensified its efforts to suppress speculations in this regard,

and waged a steady offensive against critical journalists and bloggers.

The state security prosecutor charged Ibrahim Eissa, Chief Editor of the

independent weekly Al-Dustour, with publishing reports on Mubarak’s

health that were “likely to disturb public security and damage the public

interest” and an edition of Al-Dustour was censored in August 2007. Eissa

was among four independent and opposition editors convicted in a separate,

“false information” case. Wael al-Abrashy of the weekly Sawt Al-Umma,

Adel Hammouda of the weekly Al-Fajr, and Abdel Halim Kandil, former

editor of the opposition weekly Al-Karama, were also convicted. The four

men had published articles criticizing high-level officials.

While prosecutors moved against Eissa, the state-backed press launched an

intensive campaign against independent journalists who raised questions

about Mubarak’s health. The government-controlled Supreme Press

Council, which issues licenses and guidelines to newspapers, announced that

it had formed two commissions to assess the press coverage of Mubarak’s

health and to decide what legal measures should be taken. In March 2008,

Ibrahim Eissa, editor of Al-Dustour daily newspaper, was sentenced to six

months in prison, which was reduced to two months on appeal in September.

He was charged under the Penal Code for publishing information considered

damaging to the public interest and national stability, but was pardoned by

the President in October 2008.

27

In another domain, the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate mounted a

widespread campaign in mid-July 2006 to pressure President Hosni Mubarak

to fulfill his February 2004 promise to decriminalize press offences. A few

days later, more than 25 newspapers went on a one-day strike as part of the

campaign, which resulted in the last-minute deletion of a controversial

amendment to the penal code, approved by the People’s Assembly on 10th

July 2006. Mubarak removed a provision that would have stipulated prison

sentences of up to three years for journalists who defamed public officials by

alleging corruption30. However, prison penalties for journalists convicted of

insulting the president and foreign heads of state remained in force, limiting

their freedom. The People’s Assembly passed a package of amendments,

which also provided for imprisonment for up to five years for publishing

“false” information and insulting the state institutions such as the judiciary

and armed forces.

In a move that triggered concerns that the government had been trying

financially to cripple outspoken newspapers, the amendment package

doubled fines for writers and editors convicted of defamation and a range of

vaguely worded offences to as much as 40,000 Egyptian pounds

(US$7,000). Other restrictive legislation, such as the Law on the Protection

of National Unity, the Law on the Security of the Nation and the Citizen, the

Law on Political Rights, and the Emergency Law in force were used to

imprison journalists.

Besides the legal, administrative and security penalties that have been

hindering the freedom of the press in Egypt, the authorities added new

30- Freedom of Expression Report, Egyptian Organization of Human Rights, 2006

28

obstacles related to the freedom of information flow. However, Egyptian

journalists were able, after two years of protest, to annul law no. 93/1995

that imprisoned journalists who publish official documents, and also civil

servants who provide them to journalists. In spite of the annulment of that

law, many administrative obstacles not only prevented them from accessing

official information, but also led some journalists into the “false

information" trap, in order to imprison or fine them. The Egyptian penal

code and press laws include 32 articles that allow for the imprisonment of

journalists for such vague offences as "threatening national security". This

legislation has enabled the government to crack down on journalists who

cross the aforementioned ‘red line’ that has been imposed on the press. The

Ministry of Information monitors newspapers and exerts pressure on editors

to avoid crossing these ‘red lines’, like publishing information on the

military or the president’s family.

However, the media and press have played an increased role in achieving

transparency, and the unveiling of corruption has expanded in a very healthy

way. Both the new and to a certain extent long-standing newspapers have

enjoyed more freedom in assessing and criticizing the performance of the

government, including the President. There has also been an increasing

number of political programs that have tackled the government’s

performance and have heavily criticized the Cabinet31.

On the other hand, the campaign against bloggers has escalated. The Interior

Ministry has been pursuing this campaign through a special unit called the

Department for Confronting Computer and Internet Crime. Thanks to a 2006

31- International Amnesty report 2010

29

court ruling, websites can be shut down if they are deemed a threat to

national security. Several bloggers have been harassed and detained briefly

by the state security forces for exposing cases of torture and corruption.

Some of the country's more active political bloggers, such as Wael Abbas

and Mohamed al-Sharkawi, are regularly followed, harassed and

intimidated.

In mid-April 2007, Abdel Moneim Mahmoud, another young blogger, was

arrested and detained for several weeks. His apparent crime was using his

blog, Ana-Ikhwan (I am a Brotherhood Member), to expose the torture of

civilians by the Egyptian security forces and to denounce the country’s

practice of trying civilians in military courts. The authorities charged him

with defaming the government and belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood -

the country’s largest opposition group, banned in 1954 but long tolerated as

an underground political force32. From 2003 to 2008, 64 bloggers

unaffiliated with news organizations were arrested worldwide for their

blogging activities. China, Egypt and Iran account for more than half of all

of these arrests33.

32- www.thenation.com. Bloggers against Torture, February, 19, 2007 33- http://www.wiareport.org/wp-content/uploads/wiar_2008_bloggers.pdf.

30

Facebook’s Emergence

However, the turning point for bloggers was in April 2008, when Facebook

became popular worldwide and a favorite venue for Egypt's disaffected

youth. The main reason is that the Facebook network has given the most

marginalized groups in the country a voice and played a crucial role in

broadening support for the textile workers’ protest in El Mahallah, the textile

industry city, on the 6th of April 2008, against the high price of food and

corruption in Egypt. Three people were shot dead by the security forces and

500 people were arrested. Forty-nine people also accused of involvement in

violent protests were blindfolded for nine days and tortured by the State

Security Investigation (SSI). Twenty-two of the defendants were sentenced

in December 2008 to up to five years in prison. This event inspired an online

movement which took its name from that date. Two of the movement’s

founder members, Israa abd Al Fattah and Ahmad Maher, were under the

age of 30 when they created the original Facebook group. The group

functions as a forum and powerful organizing tool for the movement’s

members, who frequently post comments, photos and news reports to the

page. The movement is not part of any official alliance with the political

parties. However, the party leaders are attuned to its activities and have

occasionally expressed solidarity with it. It had attracted 100,100 members

by February 2011.

Isra Abdel Fattah, who only joined Facebook five months before launching

the 6th of April Group named ‘the president of the Facebook Republic’, was

also arrested for 16 days34. The day before Esraa was released, Bilal Diab, a

34- How the Internet is Challenging Egypt’s Government, Ahmad Zaki Osman, April 29, 2007.

31

Cairo University student, interrupted a speech delivered by Prime Minister

Ahmed Nazif on the Internet as a tool of communication. "Prime Minister,

Diab told Nazif, to release all 6th April detainees. They are the same young

people who used the Internet to express their opinions"35.

A second Facebook group began calling for the release of Fattah and the

other detainees and for further protest on 4th of May. Another Facebook

activist, Ahmed Maher, was arrested by the Egyptian police for belonging to

the 4th May 2008 protest group. The protest led to some shops closing, and a

subdued mood on the streets but, on the whole, the protestors stayed at

home. The 27-year-old civil engineer was stripped naked and beaten

intermittently for 12 hours before being released without charge36.

The 6th of April Youth Movement has become an outlet for a new generation

of politically conscious young people, who have not seen real political

parties and have known no ruler apart from Mubarak. The leaders of the

movement meet online to debate issues, plan events and mobilise the group

members to participate in specific demonstrations. The members of the

movement have used various Facebook features, including profile pictures

and status updates, to protest against the police measures. In addition, the 6th

of April strike highlighted the possibility of using Facebook as strong tool

for political mobilization. Some started to argue that the Egyptian political

activists are politicizing the Internet. Young people have deserted a reality in

which they knew they could change nothing and directed their efforts instead

towards this virtual environment. Facebook succeeded in socializing politics

35- Facing Facebook, Al Ahram weekly 1-7 May 2008.

36- Showdown on Facebook in Egypt, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post, 11 June 6, 2008

32

and politicizing the Internet. The 6th of April strike was mainly initiated by

political activists, but the 100,000 who joined the Facebook group were not

all political activists. Facebook succeeded in bringing ordinary people into

the game by making political issues socially debatable.

Nevertheless, Facebook activists are being targeted by government-based

media campaigns that defame the web site and the youth activists who use it.

The government also warns the state-media outlets not to discuss the

phenomenon. Al-Gomhuriya daily called for a boycott of Youtube and

Facebook websites and the weekly Rose El-Youssef portrayed Facebook as

a secret room aimed at ruining Egypt37. The People’s Assembly Speaker

Fathi Sorour was quoted in Al-Ahram, the most important official

Newspaper in Egypt, as saying: “The 6th of April strike was aimed at

undermining stability and security to achieve doubtful aims”.

At the same time, the Egyptian Interior Ministry stepped up the monitoring

of Facebook38. In August 2008, the Egyptian authorities imposed new

monitoring measures by demanding that Internet cafe clients must provide

their names, email addresses and phone numbers before they can use the

Internet. Nevertheless, a lot of Internet cafes do not ask for the user’s ID or

name. Ultimately, the government would find it impossible to police the

internet. Moreover, Facebook is not limited to the highly educated middle

class who have internet access, but has become a heaven for millions of

impoverished labourers, factory hands, and unemployed people. Therefore,

37- Egypt: Facebooking the Struggle Sami Ben Gharbia, 30 April 2008, The Guardian

38- Egypt Steps Up Facebook Monitoring. Will Spencer August 30th, 2010. topbits.com

33

the authorities have been confronted with the realization that they cannot

place more than 1,232,480 people under surveillance. It is true that the

authorities punished Esraa Abed El-Fateh and others after the 6th of April

2008, but they could not punish all 100,000 members of the Facebook group.

They also could not punish the many people who did not go to work but

committed an act of public disobedience on that day. Moreover, the political

and social activists developed new techniques for countering the government

actions which were taken against them. They were able to use fake names

and change their email addresses39.

Since then, Facebook has been instrumental in putting pressure on the

government to react. It has become a method for mobilization and has

enabled the pro-democracy movements to flourish. Social media such as

Facebook allow Egyptians to discuss matters, generate new ideas on how to

rebuild the country, and facilitate a kind of transparency that was not there

before. Facebook also serves as a space for citizen journalism, where people

report on protests free from the disinformation put out by many mainstream

media organizations.

Perhaps the most important event which has provided momentum for the

Facebook movement was the return of Mohamed El Baradei, the former

head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to Egypt in

February 2010, after a 12-year absence. ElBaradei’s return caused a political

sensation. Immediately, he formed a new political movement called the

National Association for Change, which managed to include all political

39- The New Media Security and Facebook and Political Mobilization in Egypt, an Academic Paper. February 2010.

34

affiliations and religions, men and women, representatives of civil society

and young people seeking to change Egypt, including members of the 6th of

April Movement. The goal of the association is to bring about political

change based on democracy and social justice, and reform the constitution

which has been subject to many amendments made at the request of

Mubarak that entitled him to remain in power for 30 years and would have

enabled his son to succeed him.

Realizing the importance of Facebook as a tool for political mobilization, he

launched immediately his own Facebook page in late February in the same

year. It is worth noting that ElBaradei currently has 369,968 Facebook

supporters, compared to Gamal Mubarak’s 6,583 by January 2011. Media

coverage has contributed to El Baradei’s apparent popularity and to the

anticipation of his next moves. He also launched a Facebook page for

change (Taghyeer) which had attracted 30,900 supporters by the 25 January

2011 revolution. ElBaradei, who understood Egyptian political life during

Mubarak’s reign, confirmed that he would not run for a presidential election

in 2011 as long as the constitution remained unchanged. Early in 2011,

ElBaradei also confirmed that his campaign had gathered a million online

petition signatures for constitutional reform by the end of 2010. In addition,

15,000 Facebook members volunteered to go out onto the streets of Cairo

and other cities to collect more signatures which was a crucial step

considering that three decades of state repression had left many afraid of

taking action. Their swelling numbers reflected the pent-up frustration in

advance of the parliamentary and presidential elections in 2010 and 2011.

Again, social networking and ElBaradei constituted a combination that has

become part of Egypt’s political scene and has the ability to influence public

35

opinion. This time, police corruption and brutality have been at the heart of

the new wave of protest. "We are all Khaled Said," a Facebook group stated

in memory of a young Alexandrian man who was beaten to death by the

police in June 2010. Khaled Said, 28, died after being kicked and punched

by the officers before they eventually smashed his head against a marble

shelf in the entrance to the building. Graphic photos of Said's mangled face

spread across the internet, prompting protests in Cairo and Alexandria.

Khaled Said group’s message is about solidarity against the security forces.

The Facebook page attracted 500,000 members initially and, after the 25th

January revolution, this number reached 1,114,700, mostly young people

who had never before engaged in political activism. They joined the group to

witness the injustices unfolding around them and to share their stories and

photos as evidence of a corrupt authoritarian government. The group also

called for an end to emergency law, and the imposition of a two term limit

on the presidency has coalesced into something far more radical and brought

countless more people, whose latent hostility to the Mubarak regime had

never before been translated into concrete action, into direct confrontation

with the state. The campaign group also criticized the police investigation

and the interior ministry, which had accused Said of being a wanted

criminal, an accusation that his family denies. El Baradei joined about 4,000

Egyptians in a street protest in June 2010, in direct challenge to Mubarak.

Since then, “We Are All Khaled Said” has become a space where citizens

can monitor the government and hold it accountable. This astonishing

reversal placed power in the hands of the public, and gave Egyptians the

moral leverage to fight back. Generally speaking, by the end of 2010, all

Facebook pages had started to work collectively on all political, economic,

36

corruption, and human rights issues. Once any of these pages adopted any

of these issues, a massive Facebook campaign would be launched. The youth

of Facebook have started to produce videos, songs and reports. As soon as

“We Are All Khaled Said” called for 25th January to be the day of the

Egyptian Revolution all other Facebook pages, like the “6th of April

Movement”, “Egypt Youth for Human Rights” and “Taghyeer”, took part in

this campaign which managed to attract the support of 65,000 Egyptians

and, with 85% of internet users being aged 16-34 in 2011, revolution

became possible (see the table)40.

.

40- Social Baker website

37

3. The Parliamentary Elections: the Turning Point

The Parliamentary elections of November 2010 were another element that

made the Egyptian Revolution more likely. The election was called

fraudulent and was widely criticized at home and abroad as corrupt and anti-

democratic. The elections had created a political scene that was

simultaneously frustrating and puzzling. The security forces staged and

organized an intervention on behalf of the ruling NDP’s candidates, hindered

the judges overseeing the election from doing their job and blocked many

observers from either entering the polling stations or remaining there long

enough to evaluate the election process. Vote-buying was also widespread.

At least 9 people were killed and more were injured across the country as

Egyptians went to the polls to elect members to the lower house of

parliament, the “People’s Assembly”. 6,001 members of the Muslim

Brotherhood (MB) were arrested in 2010 alone, signaling the beginning of a

period of political schizophrenia. The main parliamentary opposition, the

MB, was reduced from 20% of the seats in the previous parliament to zero41.

In the years preceding the 2005 elections, Hosni Mubarak underestimated

the gathering potential of the MB and began to tolerate their activities in

Egyptian society. Thus, the MB managed to emerge as the principal

opposition bloc after the 2005 parliamentary elections.

Apparently recognizing the MB as a threat to his power and wanting to

prepare the field for his son to take a controlling role in his political party,

41 -http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/egypt-parliamentary-election-violence-must-be-investigated-2010-11-30

38

President Mubarak was widely accused of rigging the election results and

using intimidation tactics to ensure his son’s eventual rise to power.

Although around 41 million Egyptians were eligible to vote in polling

stations in 254 districts across the country, the indications showed a low

voter turnout; protests and skirmishes were widely reported. In one of

Cairo's key districts, more than 2,800 voters were allowed to cast their

ballot twice, in two separate polling stations, because they were voting in

favour of the ruling NDP candidates. The Egypt's High Electoral

Commission had ordered 16 polling stations across five governorates across

the country to close due to reports of violations and violence42.

Local civil society groups complained that the authorities rejected requests

for thousands of permits to monitor the vote and the count, but the electoral

commission claimed that it granted more than 6,000 permits. Local

monitors were not allowed to question election officials or voters. The result

of the elections was an NDP-dominated parliament, a result increasingly

perceived as illegitimate.

In this regard, the media also played a role before and after the

parliamentary elections which contributed in one way or another to revealing

to what extent the elections were illegitimate.

The media coverage of the pre-election period differed according to the type

of the media outlet. Al-Ahram, a major state-owned newspaper, covered the

NDP’s parliamentary elections campaign intensively. It underlined the

party’s election programme, which adopted the same calls for opposition

42 - Vote rigging' marks Egypt election, Al Jazeera, 29 Nov 2010

39

movements and parties to combat corruption, improve living conditions and

public services and reduce the unemployment rate. Al-Ahram stressed all of

the similar statements made by the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and

his son Gamal Mubarak who denied he had any personal political ambitions

to succeed his father and confirmed the regime’s support for political

change. Al-Ahram also published the first lady Suzan Mubarak’s statement

to encourage women in Upper Egypt to take part in the election.

Generally speaking, an examination of the two week period before and after

the election shows that Al-Ahram’s coverage of the other key players in the

elections was limited.(see appendix for details of articles examined) It did

not give fair coverage to the independent candidates who were members of

the MB. The newspaper referred to the MB as “the prohibited group” and

accused it of resorting to violence and violating the law during the so-called

“March of Anger”. The march had been led by the MB in 11 electoral

constituencies in Alexandria to protest against the exclusion of a number of

its candidates from the candidates’ list for the parliamentary election in the

city by the interior ministry (Al-Ahram 21/11/2010). The newspaper

emphasized the security forces’ statement that it would stand strongly

against these demonstrations during which nearly 80 supporters of the MB

were arrested. However, it included the MB’s point of view at the end of the

article, who said that they had the right to protest peacefully and that they

were going to refer their issue to the International Council for Human

Rights.

Al-Ahram also followed the line of the NDP’s media campaign regarding

the calls for international monitoring of the elections. For example, it

40

provided a space for NDP officials to defend and explain their election

program. It published a news item about 20,000 people demonstrating

against the international monitoring in an attempt to give the impression of a

nationwide rejection of those calls (Al-Ahram 22/11/2010). Such news was

not published in El-Masry El-Youm. It also confirmed the detention of the

MB’s supporters and portrayed them as criminals and terrorists. One of these

news items carried the headline “40 Members of the Prohibited Group

Charged of Terrorism” ( 22/11/2010).

However, the newspaper included occasional columns that criticized the

election process and the way in which the ruling NDP chose its candidates.

They also referred to the unequal chances for campaigning and predicted an

unfair election.

The newspaper was the mouthpiece for Ahmed Ezz, the secretary of the

NDP, whom the opposition considered to be the mastermind behind the

rigged parliamentary elections. The newspaper launched a campaign led by

Ahmed Ezz against the MB, accusing them of trying to claim the NDP’s

achievements for themselves and launching bloody attacks on security forces

during the elections. It stated that the MB has always been like this in the

past and that it would use its militants at a certain point. In making this

statement, the newspaper twisted the facts and neglected the authority’s

violation of human rights and democracy ( 23/11/2010). With the aim of

supporting all of the authority’s measures, it underlined a statement made by

the head of the High Electoral Commission to the effect that media persons

would not be allowed to enter the ballot stations. It said that the High

Electoral Commission granted 76 organizations permission to follow the

41

elections but later stated that they could only monitor them under certain

conditions. It is worth noting that the newspaper used the verb “to follow”

instead of “to monitor” (24/11/2010). It also stressed the statement by the

interior minister that the ministry was very strict regarding any violation of

the law during the elections and would not allow any action that would

disturb order in the country.

Within the framework of promoting the intention to hold free elections, it

referred to the establishment of a national commission for monitoring the

elections called Independent Egyptian Youth.

Other news items reflected the regime’s desire to pave the way for Egyptians

to accept the results of the rigged elections. Al-Ahram published a statement

by the media secretary of the NDP to the effect that the Egyptian president is

the Godfather of all Egyptians regardless of their political affiliation and that

he treats them all equally (24/11/2010).

As the date of the elections approached, more NDP members had statements

published in Al-Ahram confirming how fair and free the elections would be

and that each opposition party would be given a fair chance at them

(25/11/2010)

. It justified the detention of Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Cairo by

reporting that the authorities had arrested and interrogated him following

allegations that he had published pro-MB articles (26/11/2010).

The executive of the board of directors of Al-Ahram Press Foundation

claimed in an article that a marginalized group had called for a boycott of

42

the elections. He hailed the huge number of candidates participating in the

election, which reached 5,000, as an indication of the great tolerance of the

Egyptian regime. Other writers for the newspaper were encouraging people

to vote, while others noted the growing role of the NGOs in monitoring the

elections.

After the elections were held on 28th November, the newspaper published a

completely different view of what happened on the ground during the

elections. It stated that a delegation from the European Union praised the

elections which met the standards of European parliamentary elections and

described them as very peaceful (29/11/2010). On the other hand, a report

confirmed that violence had erupted in one of the constituencies and that

people had been shot (30/11/2010) (Violence Erupted in “MeetGhamer”) .

The newspaper stated that the prime minister described the elections as the

best, most ideal elections that Egypt had ever had and the cases of death

occurred during the election were not a result of any violence (1/12/2010).

Again it stressed the confirmation of the parliament Speaker that 2010

elections had been the most fair and democratic in recent history and that the

voters had the final say. (2/12/2010)

On the other hand, over the same period El-Masry El-Youm, an independent

newspaper, provided more comprehensive coverage of all candidates,

whatever their political affiliation. (see Appendix) It covered all areas of

Egypt and provided in depth, detailed stories which were unavailable in Al-

Ahram newspaper. It recorded all of the details of the battles between the

candidates, especially between the candidates and the supporters of the NDP

and the MB. It even reported the conflict within the NDP over the candidacy

43

process of its members. El- Masry El-Youm presented the different points of

view of the opposition and its accusation of the regime of starting an early

process of rigged elections.

It covered the story of the “March of Anger” by using strong, very daring

headlines, giving the impression that a war between the authorities and the

MB had been initiated. Such publicized headlines were:

(The Confrontation has started: MB Threaten to Open Fire on the State,

The Interior Ministry: Our Reaction Will Be Violent)

In fact, the headline related to MB was not exactly what the MB said as

stated in the story, which reported an MB representative’s statement that

“What happened in Alexandria will increase the discontent among people

and will minimize the chances of the NDP candidates in the elections and

create more opposition to the regime”. The paper included both sides’ stories

of what happened during the confrontations and, at the same time, stated that

the MB’s members were detained in most of the electoral constituencies

(21/11/2010).

El-Masry El-Youm provided detailed stories of how the security interfered

with and curbed the MB’s electoral campaigns all over Egypt and the

number of its supporters who had been arrested by the police reached 1,206

in 22 governorates, with only 500 of these having been released by the 22nd

of November (22/11/2010). It also managed to clarify the American stand

towards the authorities’ negative practices towards other candidates and the

international monitoring of the elections through an interview with an

American official who did not deny the MB’s right to participate in the

elections. It also published reports condemning the High Electoral

44

Commission and the Interior Ministry of an early fraud process. The paper

highlighted the call for the resignation of the head of the High Electoral

Commission of the elections for being a relative of Mubarak, the head of the

NDP (22/11/2010).

It reported the clashes between the security forces and the MB’s candidates

and supporters who claimed that the security forces used thugs to force them

to withdraw (23/11/2010).

The newspaper underlined the “Kifaya” movement’s call for the boycotting

of the election, knowing in advance that the elections would be rigged as the

result would determine that of the coming presidential elections in

September 2011(24/11/2010).

On the day of the elections, El-Masry El-Youm highlighted Amnesty

International’s report on the brutal suppression by the police of the peaceful

marches and election campaigns (28/11/2010). The paper published a copy

of pre-signed voting cards obtained by the NDP candidates, although it

stated that it could not verify if the cards were genuine or faked.

The day after the elections, the newspaper registered that nine people had

been killed during them and the NDP won the majority in Parliament, with

only six members from the opposition. It reported the use of tear gas and live

bullets during the elections by the police; such actions were well

documented with photos. It said that thugs attacked the people, preventing

them from voting in many ballots, while the police force disappeared

completely. It referred to how the thugs rigged the voting cards, how the MB

45

candidates were subject to violence by both the police and thugs and how the

NDP candidates were buying votes. The published photos proved how the

election was rigged. At the same time, it published a statement by the head

of the High Electoral Commission to the effect that the elections had gone

smoothly and that no violent actions had been witnessed (29/1/2010).

On the 1st of December, the newspaper ran a front page story on one of the

judges who reported a case of fraud during the elections. As a result of this

story, the author was beaten up and insulted by a police officer because he

wanted to prevent fraud at the ballot station where he was the head of the

monitoring committee. It also reported a protest against the fraud-mired

elections by all of the opposition parties and had a documented story prove

that another judge refused to take part in the second round of the elections as

he had witnessed fraud cases in the first round and he could not prevent it.

El-Masry El-Youm stated that the authority released 700 MB members after

48 hours of the group’s withdrawal from the second round of the elections

(4/12/2010). It conducted a number of interviews with people and even some

thugs who had been paid by certain candidates to rig the election for them; it

also referred to many reports in the international media discussing how the

elections would pave the way for Gamal Mubarak’s succession (7/12/2010).

46

Facebook too had a share in portraying a comprehensive picture of the

parliamentary elections. Apart from its use by candidates of all affiliations as

an essential promotional tool during their campaign, Facebook was the most

active outlet, as it was used by human rights activists like “Egypt’s Youth

Campaign for Human Rights”. The page was uploaded constantly and

proved the violation of human rights by the regime during the elections. Two

days before the elections, the Egypt’s Youth Campaign for Human Rights

posted a video claiming to show how the Egyptian government had stolen

80% of the country’s income and the extent of its corruption, and explaining

why it would not allow free elections.

The day before the elections, it posted a video clip of an independent

candidate and his supporters being arrested, beaten up and humiliated by the

police in the Monofia province. Another video showed people finding voting

cards that had already been marked in favour of the NDP’s candidate a day

before the elections and how the police protected the fraud process. Another

video showed a group of people including municipality officials replacing

signed voting cards with others at the end of the polling day, and yet another

showed some candidates paying people to vote for them.

The Facebook page published a news item on how the authorities had

dressed some of their agents in t-shirts on which the MB’s slogan “Islam is

the solution” was written and the agents pretended to be MB supporters.

Given that such an action is considered a violation of the electoral law, the

authorities would have had an excuse to arrest other MB supporters and

suspend its candidates’ campaign. It stressed the struggle between the judges

and the authorities over monitoring the elections and a call by a female judge

to boycott the second round of elections.

47

The National Association for Change’s Facebook account also uploaded

Mohamed El Baradei’s statements on how the authorities were trying to

control the media and limit their role in order to prevent them from revealing

the anticipated fraud at the elections. It also posted videos of the president

proving that he was irresponsible and should no longer be president, and

simulated video clip of debates between El Baradei and Mubarak.

After the first round of the elections, El Baradei renewed his call for the

opposition parties and forces to boycott the second round. He confirmed that

the government had lost its credibility. After the second round of the

elections, El Baradei stated in a video clip that the repressive practices of the

government should come to an end. He also called the opposition to unify

and called upon the government to allow peaceful demonstrations;

otherwise, this could lead to nationwide disobedience.

In addition, the opposition political powers used all of their media outlets to

expose any violations before and during the elections. For example, the MB

used its website “Ekhwanonline” (see Appendix) to underline all of the

regime’s negative practices towards its candidates and supporters. It

emphasized the campaign led by El Baradei to release a journalist from

Elkhwanonline and another one from El Badeal independent newspaper,

who had been arrested by the authorities during the confrontations between

the police and the MB’s candidates and supporters in Alexandria.

48

Ekhwanonline followed the news of MB’s supporters and candidates, who

were arrested and released in some cases. At the same time, it covered its

candidates’ election campaigns (22/11/2010).

Ekhwanonline also underlined the international media coverage of the

elections that condemned the Egyptian authorities, like the BBC article on

how the regime harassed and arrested MB candidates (22/11/2010). The

website covered the news of the Egyptian alliance for monitoring the

election which stated and disapproved of the violations committed against

the MB candidates. It uncovered that the petroleum companies were forced

to provide 150 million Egyptian pounds for the minister of Petroleum and

Natural Resources to campaign as an election candidate (24/11/2010).

After the elections, the website exposed how violent the NDP’s candidates

had been during the elections, how some of them used thugs to attack and

burn down ballot stations, and how the regime had used all possible illegal

means to win the elections( 30/11/2010).

Ekhwanonline underlined the opposition’s support of the MB’s decision to

withdraw from the second round of the elections. The website tried to give

the MB the credit for exposing the illegitimacy of the new parliament

through participating in the first round of the elections during which it was

subject to the regime’s harassment and violation.

49

In the domain of the relationship between the government and the media, the

authorities launched a campaign against the media in early October to try to

control the situation from the beginning. The Telecommunications

Regulatory Authority imposed new regulations on marketing and news SMS

services to restrict the flow of information between senders and receivers,

especially during demonstrations. This had become an important tool for

electoral campaigning and for coordinating the election monitors.

The Egyptian Nilesat Satellite Company, managed by the Egyptian

government, issued a number of decisions in October to cease the

broadcasting of 17 channels, while issuing warnings against a number of

other channels. The reason stated was to limit the dissemination of sectarian

tension. These decisions were made without warning and were not issued by

a court. These decisions and the removal of Ibrahim Eissa from his position

as Chief Editor of "Al-Dostor" newspaper - one of the most independent

and critical newspapers - merely led to the intensification of the climate of

fear across all forms of media. Some programmes known to criticize the

government were stopped, such as the closure of the studios broadcasting

"Cairo Today" on Orbit Channel and the dismissal of Ibrahim Eissa as

presenter of "Baladna Bel Masry" (Our Country on the Egyptian Way), on

ONTV Channel. The head of the Supreme Electoral Commission was also

banned from making any further press statements following interviews with

"Al Wafd" and "Al-Shorouk" newspapers, during which he revealed that the

commission does not possess any legal powers or the necessary capacity to

supervise the elections, and thus is forced to depend on the Ministry of the

Interior43.

43 -Egypt Repeated attacks on freedom of expression ahead of parliamentary, Egyptian Organization for

50

During the election, the media were prevented from covering the fraud

committed during the first round of parliamentary elections. Many

journalists were physically prevented from covering the widespread

irregularities. Reporters Without Borders have drawn up a non-exhaustive

list of cases of abusive behaviour towards journalists committed by NDP

members and supporters with the complicity of the police on the 28th

November. For example, El-Masry El-Youm reporter Noha Al-Hefnawi,

Al-Shourouk photographer Alia Hamed, and Masrawi.com reporter

Mohamed Abu Dheif were attacked by NDP supporters and police as they

photographed a voting station in Cairo. Al-ShourouK reporter Reham Al-

Delay was harassed by the employees of a company owned by an NDP

candidate near the Esko club in the northern Cairo district of Al-Sahel. She

was forcibly taken to the candidate’s campaign headquarters and detained

there for an hour. Aya Al-Fiqqi, a freelancer who works for Al Jazeera

Mubasher, was attacked by about 20 NDP supporters while trying to cover

electoral fraud in the village of Meet El-Khouly (Al-Zarqa). They hit her

repeatedly and threatened her with knives until NDP candidate Mohamed

Labib El-Banna intervened. Police finally escorted her away from the NDP

supporters, spitting on her and insulting her. Her camera, mobile phone and

laptop were all smashed.

The landslide victory of the ruling NDP was no longer in doubt following

the massive fraud committed during the first round, which was condemned

by observers in Egypt. The tension levels were slightly lower during the

second round of parliamentary elections on the 5th of December; however, a

human Organization, October 13th, 2010

51

large number of journalists were attacked by NDP militants and the security

forces over the course of the polling day. The Information Ministry targeted

satellite channels. Nilesat on the 3rd of December suspended Al-Fraen TV

for two weeks for “violation of the media code of ethics and rules of

covering elections”, based on a decision by the Media Free Zone

administration. In the same way, the director of the High Electoral

Commission, Sayed Abdul-Aziz Omar, sent the top prosecutor a complaint

from the information minister, Anas Al-Fekki, about the channel’s violation

of the principles of election coverage.

The information ministry also conveyed a complaint to the High Electoral

Commission against Al-Hurra Channel containing the same allegations. The

complaint was also referred to the chief prosecutor, but no suspension was

ordered44.

On the 5th of December, general prosecutor Abdul-Meguid Mahmoud sent

two journalists from the independent daily Al-ShorouK for trial before the

criminal court, charged with “insulting and defaming an official in the

exercise of his duty”, after the paper carried an interview the previous day

with NDP candidate Momena Kamel, who had recently been elected to the

Al-Badrashin constituency in the Guizeh governorate. During the interview,

journalist Hisham Al-Meyani questioned her about statements made by the

Justice Minister to the High Electoral Commission relating to fraud cases in

the constituency where she had just won her seat. The deputy told the

journalist that it was absurd before she condemned him as “madman, liar,

psychologically unstable and reckless", and that “intellectually he belonged

44 -Media prevented from covering fraud during first round of parliamentary elections, 3 December, 2010

52

to the Muslim Brothers”. The same day, the deputy complained about the

journalist to his editor in chief, Amr Khafagy. The following day, the two

journalists and the deputy were questioned by the top prosecutor. Momena

Kamel was interviewed very briefly while the two journalists were

questioned for nearly six hours. They were both charged and released on bail

for 20,000 Egyptian pounds (2,600 euros). The first date for their hearing

was set for 18 December 2010. They face from six months to three years in

prison and a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (1,300 euros).

Journalists were attacked by NPD militants and security forces. Video

journalist Ahmed Abdul-Fattah of the daily El-Masry El-Youm was brutally

beaten by NDP militants and thugs in their pay, in Qabreet village, Fowa

city, in the governorate of Kafr-el-Sheikh, north of Cairo. All of his

equipment was stolen and he was left lying on the ground covered in bruises.

Journalists and representatives of civil society organizations were refused

entry to the Abou Leila primary school in the city of Atmida, in the

governorate of Daqahleya, in the delta region north of Cairo. Police refused

to accept the validity of their accreditation from the Electoral High

Commission, telling them that only those issued by the police station in the

constituency were valid. The photographer for the daily El-Masry El-Youm,

Hossam al-Hawary, tried to get in without permission and was immediately

attacked by NDP supporters and thugs who threatened to stab him to death.

A team from the independent weekly El-Youm al-Sabe’ was attacked on the

same spot by thugs and NDP supporters. Journalist Mohamed Haggag was

forced into the polling station at knife-point. He was held there and

manhandled for half an hour before being released. Ahmed Ismail, a

53

photojournalist for the same medium, was beaten by the same individuals

outside the building. Sherif Al-Deeb, also a reporter for El-Youm al-Sabe’,

was threatened by NDP supporters, thugs and security staff. They were all

finally expelled from the city by force.

The website of the MB (Ikhwanonline) was inaccessible from within Egypt

from 8am to 7pm on 5 December. The same censorship was applied to the

Brothers’ online forum, al-Moltaqa (http://www.ikhwan.net/forum/). Seven

other websites were also censored for 24 hours:

http://www.shahid2010.com/, http://shababelikhwan.net/ib/index.php

http://www.sharkiaonline.com/, http://www.amlalommah.net/

http://www.nowabikhwan.com/ http://www.egyptwindow.net/

http://www.ikhwanweb.com/45.

The authorities, particularly the Information and Decision Support Center

(IDSC) that comes under the Council of Ministers, were behind the blocking

of these sites in collaboration with the country’s internet services providers

(TEDATA, ETISALAT and LINK DSL).

Security forces on 5 December banned a demonstration planned by the April

6 Movement in Tahrir Square, Cairo, to protest against the massive electoral

fraud and to urge voters to boycott the second round of polling. All

gatherings were banned out of fear of demonstrations, including at bus

stations and the entrance to shops.

The facts mentioned above draw a clear vision of how the elections made

many Egyptians deeply believe that there was no way to escape the

45 -Black Sunday: Grim day of violent attacks on the media in second round of polling, 9 December, 2010

54

authoritarian rule of Mubarak. Many Egyptians became convinced the

president’s son was set to take over. The media coverage helped them to

understand clearly the whole situation. The independent newspaper and the

social network outlets exposed the brutality of the authorities and their

insistence on a force de facto policy by all means possible. They

documented many of their stories, which increased their credibility. This

explains why the authorities and the NDP violated the freedom of expression

and assaulted a huge number of journalists. It was obvious that the Al-

Ahram newspaper was taking the regime’s side. However, some helped the

readers to understand the ruling party’s intentions and to gain a

comprehensive view of the event. It was also clear that the MB tried on its

website to boost its own goals, although it helped people to understand that

there would be no place for any real opposition in this country or that people

would one day have a democratic state. All these factors were pushing the

Egyptians to the edge.

55

4. The Media and Revolution

The call for a “Day of Rage” on the 25th of January 2011, that ignited the

Egyptian revolution, led to many changes, both politically and socially.

Some of the most important changes have occurred in the media business. In

fact, the communication tools and technologies which do not have any

particular ideological or political orientation have enhanced the support of

the revolution both in Egypt and worldwide. In Egypt, it has managed to

mobilize more people to take part in the revolution which started with

70,000 Egyptians, mostly young people, who confirmed their participation

online to reach hundreds of thousands just before the Egyptian regime cut

off the internet. Facebook pages include “The 6 of April Movement”, “We

Are All Khaled Said” or “Rased Network”. For example, “Rased Network”

played a crucial role in strengthening the revolution. Each time it posted new

video clips or news, it showed how violent the regime was and how brave

the protesters were. This led to more people joining the revolution. It also

played an increased and more effective role after the internet had been cut

off. People switched to mobiles, so that they could still connect to Facebook

and Twitter. Throughout the revolution, there was often more instant news

about what was going on in Cairo, Alexandria and other parts of Egypt on

Twitter than via the televised news.

Social media have clearly become a key voice of the people in Egypt. They

managed to run a citizen journalism campaign by providing materials used

56

by Al Jazeera which attracted millions of viewers around the world. They

also provided a clear vision of what was going on the ground in Egypt which

helped to give the international community a clearer idea of the depth of

feeling against the regime. Such a leading role by the social networks

dramatically democratized the media and empowered ordinary people.

Realizing this fact, immediately Mubarak shut down the Internet and thugs

harassed and rounded up journalists. They knew that journalists are political

actors whose professional deeds have real-world political consequences46.

As the protests intensified, so did the attacks on the journalists covering

them. Reporters were detained or arrested and equipments seized as the

Egyptian regime stepped up its efforts to suppress the information seeping

out of the country, but the journalists and the online community battled on,

providing up-to-date coverage as events unfolded.

In the middle of the protests, protestors in Tahrir Square set fire to bundles

of government newspapers; the nature of news dissemination itself was at

stake. Although the state-media system was built around the top-down

distribution of information, pitted against a plethora of digital, collaborative

networks from below, the battle became a battle of words and images, in

which issues of national authenticity were paramount and the modes of

communication vital.

What made such a battle inevitable was the fact that the discontent with the

status quo within Egypt's state media which comprises eight TV channels,

numerous radio stations, dozens of newspapers and magazines and 46,000

46-The media have given birth to the Egyptian revolution 02/03/2011

57

employees in Cairo alone, had been rumbling long before Mubarak's

resignation. Grievances against Egypt's government-appointed newspaper

editors and broadcast network chiefs and corruption scandals were revealed.

State-run television and newspapers such as Al-Ahram initially dismissed

the mass demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak as non-events.

Ranked as the third most influential paper in Egypt, Al-Gumhirya newspaper

described the January 25 protests as not major, with the number of protesters

not exceeding 1,000 in Cairo, Alexandria, and Suez; the three cities that

witnessed the most violent battles against the security forces on January

28th.

A day after the pro-Mubarak forces were unleashed in Tahrir Square on the

2nd February 2011, inciting a bloody battle that left thousands wounded, al-

Ahram reported on its front page that millions of government supporters had

flooded the streets, grossly exaggerating their numbers. The state television

called the anti-Mubarak demonstrators "destabilizing" forces and accused

foreign powers of instigating instability47.

After January 25th, most people relied on Arabic satellite channels such as

Al-Jazeera, news accounts from independent Egyptian dailies, like El Masry

El Youm and El Shorouk and social networking sites to keep up with events.

Protesters began carrying banners in Cairo's central Tahrir Square

denouncing the state-run media and calling the news organizations “liars”.

The pressure from journalists began to increase after one of Al-Ahram

reporters was killed during demonstrations and the government rounded up 47 - Egypt's state-run media starting to shift from pro-Mubarak coverage, Washington Post Foreign Service, February 9, 2011

58

dozens of journalists, including employees of state newspapers. Some joined

protesters in Tahrir Square, calling for freedom of expression. Others turned

on their bosses, calling them apologists for the regime. The reality was that

the revolution simply shifted the power dynamic. Within these institutions,

the pro-government forces lost control and the media professionals were

able to reassert themselves. Al-Ahram journalists published a statement in

the newspaper on 30th January confirming their support for the revolution

and their rejection of the editorial policy of the newspaper’s management

towards the revolution. In response, Al-Ahram’s management stated in the

second edition of the day that this statement did not represent the

newspaper’s stand towards the revolution. Later chief editor Osma Saraya,

who is no longer Chief Editor of the newspaper, changed his tune. After Al-

Ahram’s journalists signed a petition telling the management that they were

frustrated with the paper's reporting, Saraya wrote a front-page column

praising the "nobility" of the "revolution" and urging the government to

carry out constitutional and legislative reforms.

This shift in the state media’s tone became possible when it became clear

that Mubarak could no longer cling onto power and that the regime would

soon begin to cave in.

Immediately after Mubarak stepped down on the 11th of February, the state

television congratulated the Egyptian people “for their pure great revolution,

led by the best of the Egyptian youth”. The next day, the MENA state

agency issued a statement assuring the people that “Egyptian TV will be

honest in carrying its message” and, since it is owned by the people of

Egypt, it will be at their service.

59

But this was not enough for the journalists. Since the 11th February,

journalists within Al-Ahram have been rebelling against a management that

they consider to be in bed with the Mubarak regime. The state run paper,

founded in 1875, witnessed a series of protests against Editor-In-Chief

Osama Saraya by journalists demanding a new board of directors and a new

editorial council.

The army has deployed soldiers inside Al-Ahram’s main building, both to

prevent Saraya from destroying documents that might condemn him if he

was to be investigated, and also to protect him from angry reporters. Abdel

Latif al-Manawy, Head of the Egyptian News Sector in the Egyptian Radio

and Television Union, required the protection of the army to save him from

the TV employees who accused him of fabricating news and spreading

propaganda to discredit the revolution in its early days. The TV channels

first ignored the massive anti-government demonstrations, and then pumped

out relentless pro-Mubarak propaganda, before finally switching sides as the

ruling clique began to crumble48.

Privately-owned media have also been criticised due to their coverage of the

revolution which saw stations attempt to strike a balance between the need

to cover events on the ground and the need to keep some businessmen as

well as political figures untouched.

A phone conversation between the editor-in-chief of Al Youm El Saba’a, a

weekly private newspaper, and one of the paper’s shareholders, which took

place prior to the revolution, was spread via YouTube and Facebook in late

48 - Egypt's media undergo their own revolution, The Guardian, 21 February 2011

60

February 2011. The conversation exposed the paper, which presents itself as

an opposition publication, as conspiring to misguide public opinion. The two

parties involved spoke of a deal to increase the popularity of high-ranking

officials within the NDP, including Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, and

some other powerful businessmen49.

In addition, Al Jazeera played a very significant role during the Egyptian

revolution. Unlike other mainstream Western news networks,50 Al Jazeera's

Cairo bureau was shut down, its journalists' accreditations revoked and its

reporters roughed up and detained by the Egyptian authorities on charges of

fomenting trouble and presenting biased coverage

Nevertheless, Al Jazeera continued to broadcast a very different editorial

approach to that of other international media. According to my personal

observations and impressions (I have not done any systematic content

analysis), Al Jazeera made a conscious effort for their coverage to mirror the

momentum of the revolution on the ground. The reality and rawness of the

Egyptian revolution was captured by Al Jazeera because it took a protester-

centric approach. It depended on Egyptian journalists being among those on

the streets and the people to tell their story. Given that Al Jazeera’s

headquarters are embedded in the Middle East, and it has far more resources

and networks available, it is only fair that the time they devoted to the

revolution and their efficiency in covering the breaking news surpassed that

of others. Noticing this trend, Al Jazeera shifted resources to ensure that, on

49 -Ahram Online Beta, Salma El-Wardani, 21 Feb 2011 50 - Reporting the Egyptian revolution, 13 Feb 2011, www.aljazeera.net

61

every shift, the network had someone whose sole task was to keep the

Twitter feed updated. Al Jazeera too was feeding Facebook with news. The

organization also began to see some of its viewers tweeting information

based on its on-air reporting quicker than they were tweeting it on their own

account. The demand for real-time reporting also saw Al Jazeera’s live blog

grow immensely popular51. At any given time, there were three times more

people on the live blog than on the main story on Al Jazeera’s homepage.

Similarly, the nuanced differences in language between the channels became

increasingly apparent; while CNN and the BBC preferred to use words like

‘crisis’ ‘protests’ and ‘uprising’, Al Jazeera called it a ‘revolution’. Even

after the resignation of the Egyptian president, the BBC used the terms

‘uprising’ and ‘protest movement’. At one point CNN ran a profile of

President Mubarak titled “Who Is Hosni Mubarak?” which was interpreted

by some as having the effect of humanizing the Egyptian president52. It

referred to him as a man of peace who helped the world and the USA in the

fight against terrorism and to find a solution to the Arab Israeli conflict. It

also mentioned how Mubarak gave space for human liberties and freedom of

expression. At another point, an analyst chosen by CNN argued – falsely in

my view - that the two options for a post-Mubarak Egypt was either a new

form of autocratic rule or an Islamic takeover. For example in its article

entitled ‘Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: A force to be feared?’ CNN quoted

former British Prime Minister Tony Blair saying "You don't just have a

51 - What the Egyptian Revolution Taught Al Jazeera About Digital, www.mashable.com 5/03/2011 52- Who is Hosni Mubarak, CNN, 10.Febrary,2011 http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2011/01/30/holmes.understanding.mubarak.cnn.html

62

government and a movement for democracy…You also have others, notably

the Muslim Brotherhood, who would take this in a different direction. We

need to be anxious to meet the aspirations of the people, but do it in a way

that produces something better.”

The programme also included former Israeli diplomat Eli Avidar arguing

that elections put the militant Islamist Hamas movement in power in Gaza .

‘The Muslim Brotherhood could do the same thing in Egypt’, he feared. "If

they go and take the leadership because of democratic elections, I believe

that democracy will not continue in Egypt because the fact is, the second

that they take power, they will not leave it," he said.

What in my view was an exaggeration by CNN was when the channel posted

a video of a group of people praying in the street during the demonstration

as a sign of extremism. However, it is normal for Muslims to pray five

times per day and as people were in the streets all day they have to pray

anywhere. CNN also included in the article “Few images have been more

powerful than those of demonstrators dropping to the ground to pray in the

face of security forces. And while some have been inspired by the role of

religious faith in the protests, there are definite worries that the banned

Muslim Brotherhood is waiting in the wings, hoping for a chance to take

over53.”

In contrast to Al Jazeera, the mainstream western news channels seemed to

find it difficult to agree with the analysis that the revolution was in fact

orchestrated and sustained by the secular youth of Egypt. In my view, they

53 Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: A force to be feared? CNN, 31 January,2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/31/egypt.muslim.brotherhood/index.html?iref=allsearch

63

displayed an overwhelming need to give the Egyptian revolution an Islamist

bent, with anchors on CNN and the BBC consistently calling on analysts and

diplomats to comment on a Khomeni-like takeover and obsessively

discussing the Islamist credentials of the MB and their popularity amongst

the Egyptian people54.

All too often in my view, their coverage consisted of a small inset in Tahrir

Square and a stodgy analyst or suited diplomat in the foreground praising

Mubarak’s role in forging ‘peace’ in the Middle East and his indispensability

to the West55. For example BBC published an analysis piece titled : “Why Egypt

Matters” and stated that “ If Mubarak’s regime were to collapse - which is still

a big "if" - the fall-out would deal a blow to an already enfeebled Middle

East peace process. Egypt was the first Arab state to sign a peace treaty with

Israel, back in the 1970s. A change of regime would alarm Israeli leaders

and deepen the siege mentality among many Israelis. It would affect

business confidence, regionally and even globally, especially if oil prices

shot up. Finally, it would pose painful dilemmas for Western policy-makers

who have long favoured gradual political reform in the region, fearful that

the alternative could be the breakdown of stability and the rise of

extremism”.

54- Could unrest in Egypt produce an Iranian-style regime? 4, February 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/04/egypt.protests.iran.parallel/index.html?iref=allsearch

55Analysis: Why Egypt matters, By Roger Hardy Middle East analyst, Woodrow Wilson Centre http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12311889

64

When Mubarak made the anti-climatic speech in which he declared he was

not stepping down on 10th November 2011, the western news channels

described the protesters as ‘deflated’, whereas Al Jazeera remained anchored

in Tahrir and let the viewers at home feel the reverberation of the chants that

grew louder and angrier, with the voiceover describing the mood as having

shifted from ‘angry to volcanic’.

Al Jazeera’s primary focus was on interviewing the protesters themselves.

By televising Egypt’s revolution, Al Jazeera not only played an undeniable

role in cementing Egypt’s democratic future, but also transmitted the ripples

of people’s power and the hope it inspires to all those sitting thousands of

miles away from Tahrir Square.

65

Conclusion

In conclusion, this research has made it clear that the media are a crucial part

of the whole process of democratic transition in Egypt. Such a process

includes many elements that differ according to the circumstances of each

society. One of the conclusions of this research is that the role of the media

before and during the revolution was shaped by the reality of Egyptian

society. In other words, it was shaped by the political, economic and social

conditions in Egypt. This role was inspired by the opposition movements

which led the way to political change. The media, especially the independent

newspapers and the satellite channels, not only highlighted the opposition

movements’ activities, but also helped to expose the regime’s wrongdoings,

corruption and injustice. At that point, parts of the media expanded their

coverage to portray a comprehensive image of the depressing reality of the

country. It also helped to deepen the Egyptians’ awareness of their rights,

which led to more people paying attention to the opposition movements’

calls and created a new generation of human rights activists. It also

contributed to strengthening the newly born youth opposition movements

who are dreaming of a better future.

In this regard, it is necessary to refer to the media businessmen who seized

the right moment for the independent newspapers and private satellite

business to flourish. They successfully coped with the ongoing events in

which people were interested and filled the vacuum left by the state media,

which had abandoned its responsibility to inform people and express their

points of view. Instead, the state media became the mouthpiece of the

66

regime and a tool for justifying the government’s misdeeds. This allowed the

newly established media to build a very close relationship with its audience.

It worked hard to reach not only the elite, well educated people but also

those of humble knowledge and education.

Parts of the media also succeeded in maximizing the benefit of the miniscule

freedom of expression it was allowed by the regime to create the impression

that it was democratic. They did not hesitate to reveal cases of corruption

that involved ministers and to criticize all officials including the Egyptian

president, even though in some cases journalists were brought to military

courts and imprisoned under the state of emergency. This led to the further

unraveling of the widespread corruption within the Egyptian regime as the

media continued to expose and tackle more sensitive and controversial

issues that were of wide interest to the Egyptians.

Nevertheless, the role of the media in political change was maximized with

the emergence of blogs and Facebook. Together, the new and traditional

media constituted a sort of network that helped to boost the call for political

change adopted by the opposition movements. In this phase, the opposition

movements depended on the media, knowing that it could accelerate the

speed of democratic transition and would help to widen the opposition to the

regime. Such a vision proved to be true, as the traditional media provide

more in depth stories on all news related to corruption, the violation of

human rights, protests and economic illness. At the same time, the social

network helped to spread these stories of the traditional media. In addition, it

posted and published videos and information that highlighted the suffering

67

and humiliation of the Egyptians by the regime and the police. This

approach was and remains very effective in mobilizing more people,

especially young people, towards democratic transition.

It is impossible to ignore the role the media played in the Egyptian

revolution. Social networks have become part of Egypt’s political scene and

have an ability to disseminate information and influence public opinion in a

capacity that the traditional media do not possess. But the constraints of the

new media must be considered: while some journalists blog, the vast

majority of bloggers are more like political activists rather than journalists.

They may have the ability to cover stories which the state-run or

independent media in Egypt would or could not touch, but they also have no

editor, no deadline, and no obligation to check the facts. However, social

media such as Facebook allowed Egyptians to discuss matters and generate

new ideas on how to rebuild the country. Facebook allowed for a kind of

transparency that was not present before. Facebook also served as a space

for citizen journalism, where people reported on protests free from the

disinformation put out by many of the mainstream media organizations.

In conclusion, both traditional and new media contributed in one way or

another to the political change that Egypt is witnessing right now and they

are still contributing to the process of democratic transition after the

revolution. Now it is the case that all issues of interest to the Egyptians are

discussed in the traditional media and social media before all of the

concerned parties agree on a certain action or adopt a certain point of view.

68

Bibliography

� The Revival of Political Protests Movement in Egypt,

book’s author: Dina Shehata Published by: Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies 2010 � How Al Jazeera is challenging and improving Egyptian

journalism, papers by Courtney Radsch 22 June, 2007 � The Egyptian Movement for Change ( Kifaya), Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace,22 September, 2010

http://egyptelections.carnegieendowment.org/2010/09/22

/the-egyptian-movement-for-change-kifaya

� Internet World States http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats1.htm � National Association for Change http://misrdt.net � Egypt Ruling Party Keeps Mubarak, BBC, 3 November,

2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7076267.stm

69

� Charlene Gubash “Stage Set for Political Dynasty in Egypt”, NBC News, 28 July, 2004

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5529166/ns/world_news

� IPS Corruption Watchdogs Bite Selectively, Inter Press Service News Agency

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=52085 � Wikipedia, the Egyptian revolution http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Revolution_of_2011#Corruption_among_government_officials

� Mubarak family fortune could reach $70bn, says expert, Friday 4 February, 2011

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/04/hosni-mubarak-family-fortune

� Transparency International Report 2009 � -Al Jazeera Channel,How did Egypt become so corrupt?

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/insidestory/2011/02/201128111236245847.html � - 2009 Report of the Egyptian Central Authority for

Mobilization and Statistics � - Gawdet El Malet, the head of the Egyptian Central

Authority of accountability, El-Masry El-youm Newspaper, 15 February, 2011

70

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/article2.aspx?ArticleID=287943&IssueID=2047 � UNICEF Report 2009, on Child Poverty and disparities

in Egypt Building the Social Infrastructure for Egypt’s Future

http://www.unicef.org/socialpolicy/files/Egypt_English_Fullreport_Childpovert.pdf � Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic studies’

Report 2010 � Egypt Human Development Report 2010, United Nation

Development Program, http://www.undp.org.eg/Default.aspx?tabid=227

� Democracy index 2010, The Economist Intelligence Unit

(EIU), The Economist � International Amnesty’s Report 2010

� El-Masry El-youm 2-02-2011, 22-02-2011 � Al-Masry Al-Youm: Transforming the Egyptian Press,

28 January, 2011, Media Monitor http://www.tavaana.org/archive.jsp?restrictids=nu_repeatitemid&restrictvalues=2071502000341295552773910&lang=en � Social networking, political action and its real impact in

Egypt, 21 March, 2010

71

http://bikyamasr.com/wordpress/?p=10218

� Bloggers against Torture, 19 February, 2007

www.thenation.com

� Freedom of Expression Report, Egyptian Organization of

Human Rights, 2006 � How the Internet is Challenging Egypt’s Government,

Ahmad Zaki Osman, 29 April, 2007 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/May/14/How-the-internet-is-challenging-Egypts-government.ashx#axzz1IsUhhieM � Blogger Arrests Around the World http://www.wiareport.org/wp-content/uploads/wiar_2008_bloggers.pdf

� Facing Facebook, Al Ahram weekly 1-7 May, 2008.

� Showdown on Facebook in Egypt, Los Angeles Times, 11 June, 2008

� Egypt: Facebooking the Struggle Sami Ben Gharbia, 30

April, 2008, the Guardian

72

� Egypt Steps Up Facebook Monitoring. Will Spencer, 30 August, 2010.

http://www.tech-faq.com/egypt-steps-up-facebook-monitoring.html

Facebook and Political Mobilization in Egypt,

Part 3: The New Media Security.An Academic Paper by: Aly El raggal

-facebook-http://alexsalon.wordpress.com/2010/12/16/iiiegypt-mobilization-political-and/

� Vote rigging' marks Egypt election, Al Jazeera, 29

November, 2010 www.aljazeera.net � Egypt Repeated attacks on freedom of expression ahead

of parliamentary, Egyptian Organization for human Organization, 13 October, 2010

http://en.eohr.org/2010/10/13/egypt-repeated-attacks-on-freedom-of-expression-ahead-of-parliamentary/ � Media prevented from covering fraud during first round

of parliamentary elections, Reporters Without Borders, 3 December, 2010

http://en.rsf.org/egypt-media-prevented-from-covering-03-12-2010,38946.html

73

� The Media Have Given Birth to the Egyptian Revolution

2 March, 2011 http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/03/media-birth-egyptian-revolution/ � Egypt's state-run media starting to shift from pro-

Mubarak coverage, Washington Post, 9 February, 2011 � Egypt's media undergo their own revolution, The

Guardian, 21 February, 2011 � Ahram Online Beta, Salma El-Wardani, 21 February,

2011 � Reporting the Egyptian revolution, 13 February 2011

www.aljazeera.net � What the Egyptian Revolution Taught Al Jazeera About

Digital, 5 March, 2011

www.mashable.com

� Who is Hosni Mubarak, CNN, 10.Febrary,2011 http://edition.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/world/2011/01/30/holmes.understanding.mubarak.cnn.html

� Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood: A force to be feared? CNN, 31 January, 2011

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/01/31/egypt.muslim.brotherhood/index.html?iref=allsearch

74

� Could unrest in Egypt produce an Iranian-style regime? 4, February 2011 http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/02/04/egypt.protests.iran.parallel/index.html?iref=allsearch

� Analysis: Why Egypt matters, By Roger Hardy Middle East analyst, Woodrow Wilson Centre, BBC, 31 January 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12311889

75

Appendix

Articles examined in chapter 3:

Al Ahram

1- Clashes between the Prohibited Group and the Police Forces in 6 Governorats, Al-Ahram 21/11/2010 2- 20,000 Protest against the American Interference in the Election, Al-Ahram 22/11/2010 3- 40 Members of the Prohibited Group Charged of Terrorism, Al-Ahram 22/11/2010 4- Ezz Accuse the Prohibited Group of Stealing the NDP Achievements, Al-Ahram, 23/11/2010 5- 67 Permition for Human Rights Organizations to follow up the Elections, al-Ahram, 24/11/2010 6- Helal: Mubarak is the God Father of All Egyptians, Al-Ahram, 24/11/2010 7- The General Secretary of the NDP: The Political Parties Participation an Asset for Fair Elections, Al-Ahram, 25/11/2010. 8- The Interrogation of Al Jazeera Correspondent, Al-Ahram, 26/11/2010 9- European Union Praised the Elections 29/11/2010 10- Violence Erupted in “MeetGhamer”, Al-Ahram, 30/11/2010 11- Nazief: Unprecedented Ideal Elections and the high competitiveness, Al-Ahram, 1/12/2010 12- The Elections big step towards Democracy, Al-Ahram, 2/12/2010

El-Masry El-Youm

1- The Confrontation has started: MB Threaten to Open Fire on the State,

The Interior Ministry: Our Reaction Will Be Violent, El-Masry El-Youm,

12/11/2010

2- Elections’ War Between NDP and MB, El-Masry El-Youm, 22/11/2010

76

3- The High Electoral Commission and the Interior Ministry accussian of an Early Fraud Process, El-Masry El-Youm, 22/11/2010 4- Confrontation Between MB and Security, El-Masry El-Youm, 23/11/2010 5- Kifaya Calls for Boycotting the Elections, El-Masry El-Youm, 24/11/2010, 6- The Day of Honor or Humiliation of Egypt, El-Masry El-Youm, 28/11/2010. 7- The Elections Went Smoothly, El-Masry El-Youm, 29/1/2010. 8- 700 MB Released, El-Masry El-Youm, 4/12/2010 9- The Elections pave the Way for Gamal Mubarak’s succession, El-Masry

El-Youm, 7/12/2010.

Ekhwanonline

1- 113 of MB arrested in two days, Ekhwanonline, 22/11/210

2- BBC: The Regime Terrifies MB’s Supporters, Ekhwanonline, 22/11/2010

3- Petroleum companies paid 150 million Egyptian pounds for the minister

of Petroleum, Ekhwanonline, 24/11/2010

4- The National Association for Change: The Regime Violated People’s

Right, Ekhwanonline, 30/11/2010

5- The Withdrawal of MB Revealed How dirty the Elections was

Ekhwanonline, 1/12/2010