اقرأ باللغة العربية President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi has announced Egypt's intention to launch a satellite news channel to defend Egypt's interests and counter other channels that target the country, its people, army and institutions by broadcasting inaccurate information about events here, and that stir events in the region to serve their own interests. The announcement comes at a time when Egypt is under fierce media attack by Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel and channels belonging to the banned terrorist Muslim Brotherhood group, funded by Turkey and Qatar, which distort positive achievements in Egypt and exaggerate negative developments. All previous attempts to launch Egyptian media outlets failed due to a lack of understanding of the roles of institutions and individuals in the international media system, and the political, financial and legislative requirements for success. Confusion has also persisted about the nature and impact of media, and which can be disaggregated into the following concepts: - The mental image of Egypt abroad is the responsibility of general diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry through its overseas diplomatic missions and public relations offices charged to promote a positive image of Egypt and defend the country's vital interests and political positions. - The State Information Service is responsible for facilitating permits for foreign correspondents and providing them with information, facts, figures, data, protection and facilitating contact with official sources. Also, publishing news content and official data on its website in a variety of languages. - The Tourism Development Authority prepares, designs and funds promotional campaigns for Egypt's tourist destinations. - Newspapers, magazines and English and French-language websites present an objective and professional narrative about events in Egypt and the region, to offset content published in the international media that caters for Western tastes. - News channels that target audiences overseas require a camera at all domestic and foreign events, modern newsrooms combining footage for the screen, electronic content, studios, expert guests, experienced anchors and producers, and faces that build bridges with other nationalities and cultures. These channels, newspapers and websites must have clear and professional editorial policies with a specific vision on how to address events, crises and internal and external issues. - Sponsoring and organising events, festivals, seminars and conferences with guests of calibre on a monthly basis, and promoting them around the world to produce a large volume of news and positive reports about Egypt's reality to offset negative coverage overseas. - The media environment must be purged of all legislative and legal stipulations restricting the freedom of the press, expression and creativity, except for professional and moral charters, so the message from Egypt and its media has more credibility abroad. - More attention should be paid to cultural diplomacy in promoting Egyptian culture in all its diversity by offering more scholarships at Egyptian universities, Al-Azhar, military and police academies, research centres and technical schools. All elements together constitute a system and cannot succeed or function separately. There is a need for a position or role in the Egyptian leadership structure, and not necessarily a minister of information — a position that gained notoriety due to accumulated negative perceptions by Egyptians about this post and those who occupied it before and after the 25 January Revolution. What is needed is a leadership position that sees the entire picture, has a full mandate, tools and clear legislative mechanisms for the mission, in order to revolutionise the current dormant and ineffective system that lacks credibility.
