Making sense of Egypt’s news
By Andreas Reventlow
In the midst of growing protests against President Mohamed Morsi, the newspaper Mada promises independent, in-depth analysis of Egypt’s crucial period
President Mohamed Morsi’s one-year presidential anniversary on Sunday 30 June takes place against a backdrop of a swarm of problems, ranging from a shortage of basic necessities like fuel and electricity, to sectarian killings of four Shia Muslims in the Giza province near Cairo on 23 June.
While such events are covered in the Egyptian press, most media outlets fail to provide the Egyptian people with a sound analysis of what is really going on, says Lina Attalah, former editor of the English-language newspaper Egypt Independent.
The paper was shut down in April 2013 by its parent company Al-Masry Media Corporation, which also owns Al-Masry Al-Youm, the Arabic sister newspaper of Egypt Independent.
Now, Lina Attalah and her team are launching Mada (the full scope) to provide the kind of in-depth analysis they say is needed on the Egyptian media scene.
“We need to go beyond simply saying that such and such happened,” she says. “We need to ask why this is happening; why did the Shia massacre take place; what does it mean in terms of sectarianism; in terms of people’s sentiments towards otherness; everything.”
Asking such questions are foreign to most media outlets in Egypt, Lina says.
‘Recycling’ Mubarak’s methods
While Egypt’s media sector saw an increase in freedoms following the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, the current regime led by Mohamed Morsi and supported by the Muslim Brotherhood is trying to recycle the Mubarak regime’s methods of intimidating media professionals and restricting media freedoms, Lina Attalah says.
“But these methods aren’t working anymore. The moment you decide to pick on someone like the comedian Bassem Youssef, he just becomes even bolder and his show gets even more popular.
“The regime is anxious about the media, and they lack creativity when it comes to countering its messages. They haven’t been able to produce counter narratives that can compete with those of the privately owned media,” Lina says.
Afflicting the comforted, comforting the afflicted
Mada’s own narratives seek to strike a balance between “afflicting the comforted and comforting the afflicted” Lina says.
“People who are comfortable with their understanding of the events going on in Egypt right now need to be unsettled. At the same time, people who feel afflicted because their voices are not being heard, they need to be given the chance to speak up.”
Striking this balance and providing the contextual analysis of complex issues that Lina Attalah and her team from the former Egypt Independent calls for, is a challenge in its own right, she says.
“Coming across clearly to a broad audience is difficult, but we will not submit to reductionism. Reductionism is one of the major flaws of the Egyptian media. It leads to a general simplification of facts, and of how people understand realities.”
Through long form journalism and feature articles, the online Mada newspaper seeks to provide the context needed to improve people’s understanding of what is happening in Egypt, and why, Lina says.
“People have an ability to convey extremely complex ideas in simple language if they are given the chance, and if they are asked the right questions. This is what we claim to do. It’s not really rocket science, but it’s also not reductionism.”
A sense of “precarious comfort”
Like everywhere else, independent media in Egypt is working hard to find new ways to monetise its content. While some TV channels and newspapers are subsidised by the Egyptian state, and other private outlets are owned by a small group of businessmen, media outlets like Mada are forced to rely on other sources if they want to uphold their independence.
“There is a sense of precarious comfort with the existing media,” Lina says. “There is no sense of a need to find a third model and it’s only crises that produce the need to find an alternative model.
“The alternative model is difficult, but it’s not impossible. One idea is to tap into local communities and their support. To engage with those who know you are important, those who want you to continue, and those who want to support you.
“We’re working on that as we speak,” Lina says.
Mada is launched on 28 June and will provide its news and analyses in English and Arabic.
UPDATE: The launch of Mada has been postponed in ‘solidarity with the state of Egypt’, according to Mada on Twitter.
IMS’ work in Egypt focuses on enhancing dialogue and partnerships between key media stakeholders in the country to further media reform and to improve standards of journalism and the media’s ability to serve as a platform for transparency, accountability and a diversity of views and opinions during the period of transition to democracy in Egypt.
