Egypt is media pioneer in the Arab world, with a print media history of over 200 years reflects stark paradoxes. Although, the Egyptian media witnessed brief phases of liberalization it has a long history of media challenges against centralization, government ownership and regulatory and executive control. The Egyptian media landscape before the Arab spring was most likely to operate within censorial cultures, where an authoritarian approach override freedom of expression. This has been clear as the government controlled the media through various means such as; ownership, tailored laws, government-media close relationships, and funding. This may have been the case with Abdel Nasser nationalizing the press, turning journalists into public servants catering the regime. Followed by Sadat legitimizing the birth of political parties and granting them permission to publish party papers, however, this may have resulted in the emergence of a new bourgeoisies catering a patron-client relation with the government. Moreover, with Mubarak’s hybrid system reflecting a combination of liberalism due to the satellite revolution and emergence of the internet, resulting in in the privatization of the media where the private media mostly acted as collaborators of the ruling regime.
However, with a third democratic wave taking place worldwide since the twentieth century, citizens have been revolting to challenge the political landscape towards a more democratic system. Post the 2011 revolution did major changes take place in the Egyptian media landscape. The most significant was the abolishment of the ministry of information and the open media market resulting in the flourishing of new private media outlets and the media became bolder in their criticism not only of the cabinet but the untouchable military. The media became more of a “collaboration rather than a top-down conversation,” (Saleh, 2012; cited in Hamdy, 2013), which made it harder to marginalize individual voices. After a brief honeymoon period, the government began to restore its power over the media, which was clear in the re-instating of the abolished ministry of information in July 2011 and the formation of independent bodies moderating the media in 2014 like that of the Supreme Council of Media Regulation (SCMR). Moreover, this was also reflected in the decrease of newspaper titles from 102 in 2011 to 75 in 2015 along side the 40% decline in 2017 (CAPMAS, cited in Allam, 2018). Furthermore, non-transparent acquisitions and monopolizing practices in the media industry were more obvious, where a number of private companies owned by the government loyalists or state security organizations began acquiring shares in private media institutions, (Media ownership monitor: Egypt, 2019; cited in Badr, 2019).
According to the aim of the study, the researchers selected Ahram Online and Mada English language news websites for analysis. The two websites represent different degrees of media-political parallelism within the Egyptian media landscape. This will allows us to examine the impact of international relations on media coverage, focusing on the role of state-owned and independent media outlets in shaping political discourse in the context of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Ahram Online
Ahram Online is the English- language news website published by Al-Ahram Establishment. Al- Ahram is a state-owned newspaper (SON) founded in 1875 and has the largest circulation paper in Egypt (Cooper, 2008). It serves as the mouthpiece of the government. At first, it was established as an independent organization. However, when the media was nationalized under Gamal Abdul Nasser, Al-Ahram became the official voice of successive governments (Iskander, 2012).
The structure of Al-Ahram newspaper is “bureaucratic and highly centralized”, strictly following the rules and policies of the regime. Its finance, administration, and the appointments of administrative and editorial leaders are fully controlled by the regime (Abdalla, 2016). Despite the past success of their outdated business model along with two other state-owned newspapers, Al-Akhbar and Al-Goumhureya, they now suffer from “operational losses and break-even only with the help of government subsidies”. The subsidies fluctuate annually based on government allocations from the state budget. In 2018, the subsidy was approximately $36 million. However, in the following years the government reduced the funding as these organizations are not generating sufficient revenue (Allam and Hollifield, 2021, p.8).
In 1997, Al-Ahram started its electronic evaluation copy and was officially launched later the same year. It is a pioneering media organization in online content in Egypt and the Arab world, “introducing the first Arab dynamic hypertext markup language in 1998”. Al-Ahram Management and Computer Centre (AMAC) is responsible for designing and managing the website (El Gody, 2015, p.36).
Mada Masr English News Portal
On 30 June 2013, during protests against former President Mohamed Morsi’s rule, Mada was founded as an independent, private Egyptian digital newspaper publishing in both Arabic and English. Mada is an independent news portal, setting up a membership program to secure some of its funding, however, about 80% of its funding is provided by grants by foundations and from philanthropic organizations, (Chaudhary, 2019; cited in Leihs, 2021). Moreover, former editor of Egypt Independent newspaper, Lina Attallah, the is the founder and editor-in-chief of Mada (Media Ownership Monitor, 2019). Mada ‘s content differs from that of Ahram Online, as it is perceived as an “actor” instead of an observer and narrator, “giving voice to the powerless,” (Leihs, 2021). The website covers underreported topics with an investigative approach and openly criticizes the Egyptian government, as well as the actions of the current authorities. It is an independent liberal newspaper (Media Ownership Monitor, 2019).
It rapidly became popular among Egyptian youth and its reports were frequently cited by international media. As the outlet’s investigative journalism exposed high-ranking state officials, the government acted against the newspaper. The news website it internationally recognized and in 2019 the news outlet was named Free Media Pioneer by the International Press Institute; while its editor in chief was considered among the 100 most influential people in 2020 (Ressa, 2020; cited in Leihs, 2021). However, on May 24, 2017, the Egyptian authorities blocked Mada’s website within a massive campaign during which they blocked 500 websites including at least 100 news sites (Dwornik, 2023).
Justification for the Selection of Newspapers
As this research project focuses on media-political parallelism, which examines the interconnection between journalism and political advocacy, and the extent to which this relationship influences the role and narrative of journalism across different countries, the researchers selected both English -Language portals; Ahram Online and Mada to represent varying levels of parallelism in Egypt in the context of the 2024 U.S. presidential election coverage. The selection of these two publications was intentional as it aligns with the scope and objective of the study.
Ahram Online was chosen to represent high-political parallelism, given it being the state owned flagship; along with its seniority, popularity, and close ties with the Egyptian government. It reflects the perspectives of the government, supporting their ideology, actions, plans, and the state-officials. It is the best example to demonstrate how state-aligned media report foreign political events in the context of international relations and international communications.
On the other hand, Mada acts the as an independent outlet, representing a lower degree of political parallelism. Known for its critical approach to both domestic and international politics, usually challenging state officials. As a result, they regularly come into conflict with authorities. Its inclusion in this study opens the door to a comprehensive comparative analysis of how framing strategies differ across media outlets with different ownership systems and varying levels of parallelism.
The researchers selected the English-language digital platforms (websites) of these two publications for analysis. This decision was based on several factors: ease of access, achieving accessibility, frequent updates, diversified ownership and alignment with the language of instruction.
The study aims to examine how varying degrees of media-political parallelism influence key narratives, source selection, and overall media framing. By analyzing how these two newspapers covered the 2024 U.S presidential election, the study’s objective will be fulfilled.
References
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Dwornik, M. (2023, March 27). Mada Masr: History of Egyptian online newspaper that started on a beach. Reporterzy.info. https://reporterzy.info/en/4361,mada-masr-history-of-egyptian-online-newspaper-that-started-on-a-beach
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