On the Divide
Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt Hopes for press freedom were high after the 2011 revolution ousted Hosni Mubarak, led to an explosion of private media outlets, and set the country on a path to a landmark presidential election. But more than two years later, a deeply polarized Egyptian press has been battered by an…
On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt
1. Morsi’s Failures By Sherif Mansour In June 2012, three days before Mohamed Morsi was declared winner of the presidential election, Bassem Youssef, satirist and host of Egypt’s “Al-Bernameg,” defended the Muslim Brotherhood candidate during an appearance on Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show.” He asked the U.S. audience to give democracy in Egypt a chance.…
On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt
The Killing of Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif By Sherif Mansour The fatal shooting of El-Fagr reporter Al-Hosseiny Abou Deif during clashes between anti-government protesters and Muslim Brotherhood supporters outside the presidential palace last December seemed, at first blush, to fit a sadly familiar pattern: a journalist killed covering a political demonstration, the victim of a stray…
On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt
2. Military Censorship By Sherif Mansour A swarm of police vehicles converged on Media Production City moments after Gen. Abdul-Fattah al-Sisi announced on July 3 that Mohamed Morsi had been ousted. The compound outside Cairo is home to nearly every TV station in Egypt, but the police were targeting five particular stations that night: the…
On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt
NGO Case Criminalizes Human Rights Work By Jean-Paul Marthoz A criminal case that was launched under the previous transitional military government has cast a shadow over the current government, with its implications that international human rights and democracy workers are somehow foreign agents working against national security.
On the Divide: Press Freedom at Risk in Egypt
New York, August 14, 2013–More than two years after the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak, a deeply polarized Egyptian press has been battered by an array of repressive tactics, from the legal and physical intimidation of Mohamed Morsi’s tenure to the wide censorship of the new military-backed government, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in…
Journalists report being attacked, obstructed in Egypt
New York, August 13, 2013–At least four journalists have been attacked, threatened, or obstructed while covering sit-ins held by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, according to news reports. The sit-ins began in the lead-up to the ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi, the reports said.