Since Islamist President Mohamed Morsi came to power he and the Muslim Brotherhood, from whose ranks Morsi hails, have been criticised vociferously in the media for failing to formulate coherent policies of their own and instead adopting the discredited policies of the Mubarak-era. The new regime has responded by instigating lawsuits against a number of writers for insulting the president and inciting unrest. On 31 March TV satirist Bassem Youssef, host of Al-Bernameg (The Programme) presented on private satellite channel CBC, was released on LE15,000 bail after more than four hours of questioning. Youssef has arrived at the office of Prosecutor-General Talaat Abdallah wearing an oversize version of the hat which Morsi wore while being awarded an honorary degree in Pakistan last month. Youssef was arrested after Islamist lawyers submitted complaints against him to Abdallah, accusing him of insulting Islam as well as Morsi. Hours after his release on bail Youssef tweeted: “A legal case against me is pending, though no date has been set for a court hearing.” Youssef has raised worries over freedom of expression during the ruling of Islamists. In a later development, the General Authority for Investment which is authorised with granting licenses to satellite channels threatened CBC with annuling its own license because of Yousef's programme, which _ according to the authority officials _ does not abide by the rules set for the media. That was not all, a complaint accusing ONTV satellite channel and TV anchor Gaber Al-Qarmouti of broadcasting false news. On its part, the spokesperson of the US State department expressed the US administration concern over attempts to stiffle freedom of expression in Egypt. On 30 March Minister of Information Salah Abdel-Maksoud met with a group of media personnel to discuss the industry's code of ethics. Owners of private satellite channels who attended included Salafi Al-Hafez channels Atef Abdel-Rashid and Muslim Brotherhood Misr 25 channel's Hazem Ghorab. The meeting was also attended by newly-elected chairman of the Press Syndicate Diaa Rashwan, disqualified presidential candidate Hazem Salah Abu Ismail, head of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya Assem Abdel-Meguid and televangelist Khaled Abdallah. Rashwan argued against the detention of journalists and urged Abdel-Maksoud to issue a decree to ban journalists' arrest. “We were supposed to enjoy more freedom of expression after the ousting of Hosni Mubarak. The reality, though, is that journalists, along with other media personnel, face growing suppression,” said Rashwan. He cited last week's arrest of Youssef Shaaban while covering protests in Alexandria, and the interrogation of Youssef, as evidence. “Why does the regime blame the media for the state of unrest prevailing in Egypt? Why do Islamists condemn the media for telling people what is happening? The truth is the media is simply covering disturbances that are caused by the regime's ineffective performance.” Abdel-Maksoud insisted that Morsi was committed to freedom of expression and of the press. “No arrests have happened as a result of criticising the president or his regime,” claimed the minister. “Shaaban was arrested for throwing Molotov cocktail and Youssef interrogated for disdaining Islam.” “Ignoring the government's positive achievements,” Abdel-Maksoud complained, “the media focuses on a handful of negative topics and problems. They are problems that have been inherited from the previous regime. The president came to power just a few months ago. People should give him a chance. What has been destroyed throughout the past 30 years is impossible to repair in a few months. It is a very difficult mission. We need a few years before people begin to feel the positive difference.” Islamists allege that the independent media is being used as a weapon in the war over Egypt's stability. Awatef Abdel-Rahman, professor of journalism at Cairo University's Faculty of Mass Communication, believes Morsi's Islamist supporters “are escalating their attacks on the independent media in an attempt to restrict space for critical expression”. At the same time they are seeking to project the state-owned media as a free and honest player in the country's toxic public debate. According to Abdel-Rahman, the Islamists' claims are wholly pathetic. “The news and political components of the state media are as dominated by the regime as at any time in the last three decades,” says Abdel-Rahman. “Nobody knows whom to trust,” argues Ayman Al-Sayyad, editor-in-chief of Wijhat Nazar magazine. “Should they believe the Islamists, liberals or opposition? The public knows the Islamists have their own agenda. So do the secular liberals and the political opposition.” What suffers, says Al-Sayyad, is the objective reporting of facts. Media freedom, he says, is now on the line. Journalists along with TV anchors are being pressured to refrain from criticising Morsi or his Brotherhood associates. Since last year, several journalists have been sued. Besides, a Muslim Brotherhood was appointed as minister of information. “Since the advent of a Muslim Brotherhood president the media has been blamed for causing disturbances and journalists who criticise the president's performance are accused of calling for Morsi's overthrow. Journalists say the government is determined to attack any signs of independence in the media and wants only blind support for Morsi.” There are occasions, says Al-Sayyad, when some publications and television channels have overstepped the mark. But so too has the regime which is seeking to use the kinds of legal measures that have no place in a country that claims is committed to freedom and democracy. Constitution Party head Mohamed Al-Baradei has condemned attempts by Morsi and his followers to control the media. “Appointing a Muslim Brotherhood minister to oversee the media was a shame in itself,” he wrote on his Twitter account. Both the government and president, claims Abdel-Maksoud, welcome constructive criticism. What they oppose is distortion and any distraction of the public's attention “from the main issues”. Which of course begs the question of who decides what is distortion, and what issues are important. The one thing that is clear is that it won't be left up to the reader.
