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AFTE released a thematic report concerning the performance of the radio and TV union in covering some important events, foremost the Maspero events last October and the Mohamed Mahmud street events last November. The report addresses the many accusations of incitement and misinformation of official mass media after the 25th of January revolution, especially the Radio and TV union, the only governmental body which monopolizes the official mass media channels which constitute 58% of all media channels according to a report produced by the center for the support of decision making in 2010, i.e. it is the main media body addressing the majority of the Egyptian population, shaping their political awareness and store of knowledge.
In its first section the report provides a legal and human rights perspective on the crime of inciting hatred and violence and misinforming public opinion against a background of local and international legal provisions and the extent to which those references intersect with the official media performance in the two previously mentioned events.
The second section reviews samples of media broadcasts on El Nile News channel, Channel One and the Egyptian satellite channel, which have covered and interpreted the events. The section highlights the professional breaches which amounted to inciting murder in the first case, and flagrant misinterpretation in the second. The report focuses on analyzing editorial policies and the extent of commitment to objectivity, impartiality and balance of reporting, all of which crucial elements in quality assessment of coverage.
The report concludes its evaluation with highlighting shortcomings in media coverage, as well as several professional mistakes in coverage of events, most of which include confusion between event reporting and analysis, tendency to exaggeration and personal assessment of extent and danger of events, inaccuracy in use of descriptions and appropriate terminology in describing events. Even if some of those gaps can be explained by lack of experience and training in coverage of events similar to war circumstances, still this alone is not enough to explain the media crisis, despite the insistence of former minister Osama Haikal in several media statements based on the report prepared by an official committee he appointed. (Report has not been fully disclosed for the public). Our conclusion is that the official media coverage was based on a political will by leaders of the official news departments to formulate events in a way that misinforms the public and deliberately incites anger and violence against protesters.
AFTE calls for impartial and immediate investigations to identify officials responsible for such media crimes as well as support of libertarian policies which release mass media from state control to be able to perform with the required level of professional accuracy and impartiality. To that effect AFTE calls for the cancellation of the ministry of mass media and development of a new state policy developed by an independent board of trustees of media and community representatives.
AFTE also identifies the need to develop a code of ethics for media performance, to act as a guideline and reference as well as development of laws and regulations governing the performance of media institutions to ensure objective and impartial performance.
Summary and Recommendations
The report addresses the many accusations of incitement and misinformation of official mass media after the 25th of January revolution, especially the Radio and TV union, the only governmental body which monopolizes the official mass media channels which constitute 58% of all media channels according to a report produced by the center for the support of decision making in 2010, i.e. it is the main media body addressing the majority of the Egyptian population, shaping their political awareness and store of knowledge.
The report documents and criticizes the information performance of the Radio and TV Union, the official media institution, publicly owned by Egyptian society and the most widely viewed. The institution not only transmits information and news, but is also a most crucial tool for communication and influence as well as political mobilization of public opinion towards a particular political direction. It acquires increasing importance in a society that goes through a revolutionary era that targets the change of that direction and the building of a new contest that reflects the ambitions and demands of the January revolution.
The report focuses on the news coverage of two events, as examples, which constitute landmarks in the developments following the 25th of January revolution. The first is the violent and bloody attack on the peaceful demonstrations in support of the rights of Copts condemning the attack on Marinab church in Aswan. The event took place on the 9th of October in front of the Maspero building. The second event is what has come to be known as the Tahrir events or the Mohamed Mahmud events which began on the 19th of November and lasted for 6 continuous days.
In its first section the report provides a legal and human rights perspective on the crime of inciting hatred and violence and misinforming public opinion against a background of local and international legal provisions and the extent to which those references intersect with the official media performance in the two previously mentioned events.
The second section reviews samples of media broadcasts on El Nile News channel, Channel One and the Egyptian satellite channel, which have covered and interpreted the events. The section highlights the professional breaches which amounted to inciting murder in the first case, and flagrant misinterpretation in the second. The report focuses on analyzing editorial policies and the extent of commitment to objectivity, impartiality and balance of reporting, all of which crucial elements in quality assessment of coverage.
The report used a number of quantitative and qualitative indicators which revealed a number of professional violations in the methodology and criteria of news coverage, such as lack of objectivity, balance and impartiality. News were broadcasted with twisted facts, allying with the position of MOI and SCAF both in the description of events and public reactions to them, ignoring cases of injury and death, as well as replacing personal views of media authorities for factual information.
The report ends with a general conclusion of direct implication of the union’s leadership in one of the most dangerous political crimes that threatened public security and safety at one of the most critical moments in contemporary Egyptian history, inciting violence and hatred and mobilizing sectors of society against other sectors.
One factor contributing to this may be the lack of experience and training of Maspero personnel in covering war-like events, which call for different skills and training, akin to war correspondence. However the problem also lies to a greater extent in the lack of political will to act otherwise. Maspero authorities were instructed as to how to broadcast the news and to formulate the situation as to incite viewers against protesters and in favour of political authorities.
AFTE recommends serious accountability interventions and an intensive investigation to expose those responsible for the crimes committed by the Radio and TV Union on the one hand as well as supporting efforts to develop the state owned media institution into a platform serving Egyptian society as a whole, ensuring high level of professional performance as well as freedom of expression and accuracy of communication of information and facts on the round.
AFTE believes that the recommendations call for the cancellation of the minister of mass media, currently representing a centralized view, philosophy and policy. AFTE recommends replacing the ministry with an independent board of trustees consistent of community and media representatives, selected on the basis of credible, impartial and transparent criteria.
Conclusion
The research team concluded a number of results and general principles outlined independently, since we consider them extremely important in outlining direction of intervention in developing policies governing official media, foremost the Radio and TV Union (RTU), the most influential and widespread department shaping public opinion in an era that calls for appropriate alternatives and visions in harmony with the spirit and demands of the Egyptian revolution.
First: Maspero media policies
The official media policy in dictatorial states constitutes the soft wing of political power complemented by the oppressive wing represented by security authorities. Official media policies are designed according to general sentiment of authorities, translated immediately by higher technical and professional departments into guidelines that orchestrate media performance as a whole. Transgression is not permitted and if it is allowed, it is only to the extent that permits ventilation and containment of anger and providing a democratic décor to an oppressive institution.
Maspero is an example of all of the above. In both events the message broadcasted from Maspero flagrantly allied with the political regime implicated in the event. During the 9th of October massacre Maspero was the official spokes body of SCAF. During the Tahrir and Mohamed Mahmud events Maspero was the spokes body for the MOI. During a period of democratic transition policies and orientations of Maspero have to be reformed into a “public media service” ridding it of the tradition of “state media” to become one of the most important channels of communication between state institutions, political regime and society in all its diversity.
Second: The making and broadcast of news in Maspero
Monitoring the two previous events, we concluded that the making of news in highly centralized. It does not depend on a reading and analysis of events taking place on the street and their impartial and objective analysis in context and their subsequent broadcast to viewers enabling them to develop a position and point of view. The common sequence of events is that the news or information arrive from an “official source”. All events and circumstances are rearranged and adapted to the “official view”. The making of the news then becomes merely a technical process that is not involvement in ensuring accuracy and truth of information. This reality constitutes a political violation through the control of authorities of the making of the news, and a professional violation where media personnel become state employees executing higher orders.
Third: Professional mistakes and mediocrity used in a crime of incitement and misinformation.
The main shortcoming of the media coverage lies with the confusion of information with analysis, a tendency towards exaggeration and personal guessing related to incidents and facts, inaccuracy in used terminology and lack of appropriate language in describing events objectively. One factor contributing to this may be the lack of experience and training of Maspero personnel in covering war-like events, which call for different skills and training, akin to war correspondence. However the problem also lies to a greater extent in the lack of political will to act otherwise. Maspero authorities were instructed as to how to broadcast the news and to formulate the situation as to incite viewers against protesters and in favour of political authorities.
Fourth: “Impartiality”: a professional media commitment
Impartiality calls for dissemination of correct, accurate information, especially news, with confirmations to the extent possible, to help public opinion develop an opinion based on facts. Impartiality is one of the most important principles that should be held by official media institutions, which should stand on equal distance from all sectors of society and between society and state institutions. It should to the extent possible reflect general public sentiment representing all its sectors and act as an impartial intermediary in transmitting messages and ensure communication between the whole of society on the one hand and state institutions and decision makers on the other.
The above is unlike private media institutions which adjust their performance and is evaluated according to its quality, professionalism, objectivity and balance in coverage but at the end are entitled to represent their own points of view regarding developments on the ground provided this freedom lies within the frame of freedom of thought and expression without falling into dissemination of wrong information or inciting the public. Private media channels are private enterprises
