It was a big year for media tycoon . But was it for the best? When stepped down from the pulpit of " Aala Al-Hawa " (On Air) earlier this year, a lot of viewers were surprised. After all, Adib was the nerve centre of the long running, prime time political talk show on the Orbit pay-TV network, a show that was often compared to CNN's Larry King Live. Adib was famous for complementing his spot-on, timely approach to hot topics with the ability to engage high-profile political figures in conversation; many were heads of state who otherwise rarely appeared on television. Even those who criticised Adib for not asking the truly tough questions were willing to concede that "On Air" was a must-see, especially at critical political junctures. When he gave up "On Air", a disappointed audience naturally assumed Adib had done so in order to devote more time to his ever- expanding media business ventures. Among other large-scale projects, Adib is producing two of the most impatiently awaited films of the decade, the late singing icon Abdel-Halim Hafez's biopic, and the film version of the best-selling novel The Yaqoubian Building. Within months, however, Adib was back on air -- this time as a guest on " Al-Beit Beitak " (Feel at home), one of the most popular talk shows on Egyptian state-owned television. A few minutes into the episode, the guest suddenly transformed into a host, interviewing none other than President Hosni Mubarak by phone, an impressive feat considering the president rarely gave these kinds of interviews. Brief as it was, the interview made the headlines of the next day's press, and has since been frequently quoted. "It is such a hard, actually harsh, and complicated matter now to be president," Mubarak told Adib in no uncertain terms. In a rare moment of publicly sharing the burden of responsibility he has been carrying for close to a quarter of a century, Mubarak said the job was "no luxury. Rather the opposite, especially under the current circumstances." A few weeks later, Adib pulled off another media coup, conducting a six-hour serialised interview with Mubarak entitled "Words for History", which was aired just a few months prior to the presidential campaign. The only problem was that Adib merely came across as the president's loyal spin-doctor, reviewing 30 years of presidential achievements rather than engaging in anything vaguely critical. Overall, it was a disappointingly bland job for the man who, as a university student, had managed to interview both late President Anwar El-Sadat and then UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim. Compounding the problem was the hype preceding the show, in the form of ads and press releases that claimed it would feature revelations about the president's plans, his views on reform, and on his younger son Gamal's increasingly important role in National Democratic Party politics, as well as the crucial question of whether or not he would finally appoint a vice-president. Yet even these questions were glossed over in favour of less relevant topics like the president's role as an air force officer in the October War and his approach to governance. When the series ended, Adib was accused of polishing up his image in the hope of assuming the post of information minister, or replacing Ibrahim Nafie as board chairman of Al-Ahram, the media organisation where he had begun his career several decades earlier as a presidential reporter. Although neither of these "promotions" occurred, there is still speculation that Adib may eventually become a leading figure in reforming state-run TV news operation. In an interview with the daily newspaper Nahdet Misr, one of many publications in his conglomerate, Adib denied any ulterior motives and insisted that he felt President Mubarak to be "one of the best things that happened to Egypt". There is no doubt, though, that the interview did not help Adib's image as the 'Larry King' of the Arab world. Another of its side effects was that lesser talents acting as spin-doctors to government figures began doing so with even less caution than they might have felt before. The outcome of their humble efforts is far from impressive. But the precedent was unfortunately set. By Dina Ezzat
