'Save the press'

The Al-Nabaa debacle has cast shadows over prospects for greater press freedom.Shaden Shehab assesses the damage
Journalists want a free press, oppose imprisonment for publication offences and the suspension of the publication of newspapers. Or at least they used to, until the unfolding of events during the past two weeks.
Many journalists now believe that Mamdouh Mahran, chief editor of the independent Al-Nabaa and Akher Khabar newspapers, deserves to go to prison and have his newspapers shut down. And this should also be the fate of other journalists who use sex, religion and violence simply to boost the circulation of publications.
Mahran put the journalistic profession on the spot after devoting a large segment of his two publications on 17 and 18 June to pornographic photos and indecent language allegedly exposing the misconduct of a defrocked monk that took place in the Al-Muharraq monastery near Assiut.
After angering the Coptic Church and causing riots, Mahran could pay the price of long years behind bars. Mahran, on trial before the Misdemeanours State Security Court, is facing charges that carry a maximum penalty of 24 years imprisonment.
Mahran told Al-Ahram Weekly that he had not violated the ethics of journalism. "It is a journalist's job to expose the deviations of all segments of society, no matter how shocking they are," he offered as a justification.
But according to Ibrahim Nafie, chairman of the Press Syndicate and board chairman of Al-Ahram: "The most disturbing phenomenon has been a noticeable decline in commitment to the standards of sound journalism and to the ethics and traditions of this profession. There are also many other problems facing the Egyptian press and press institutions, the most serious being the rise of tabloids and other crude forms of journalism." (see: p.10).
"The tabloid press has mushroomed in recent years, to the extent that the norms governing the journalistic profession are almost forgotten," said Makram Mohamed Ahmed, board chairman of Dar El-Hilal Organisation and chief editor of the weekly Al-Mussawar.
Since Al-Nabaa first hit the newsstands in 1989, it has used the methods of the tabloid press. Its circulation peaked at 150,000 last year, according to its own sources.
Like other tabloid newspapers, Al- Nabaa first came into existence by virtue of a Cypriot licence. In 1999, however, Al-Nabaa had acquired a rarely- granted licence from the Supreme Press Council (SPC) after it became a share holding company. It soon became one of the biggest printing and distribution houses in the country. Its sister daily publication, Akher Khabar, was established last year on the authority of an Administrative Court order, despite the SPC and the Press Syndicate having previously pointed accusing fingers at Al- Nabaa and similar publications.
On 19 June, the SPC filed a complaint with the prosecutor-general in connection with the defrocked monk affair. As a result Mahran was placed on trial. The case began on Sunday and will resume on 1 July. The SPC also filed a request with the Administrative Court to revoke the newspaper's licence. Hearings began on Tuesday and will resume on 2 July.
Two other newspapers have been banned in the last four years. In February 1998 Al-Destour, an independent newspaper that was also licensed in Cyprus, was closed by Minister of Information Safwat El-Sherif after it printed a death threat against three Coptic businessmen allegedly made by the militant Al- Gama'a Al-Islamiya.
Al-Shaab, mouthpiece of the Islamist Labour Party, was suspended in May 2000 by the Political Parties Committee, an affiliate of the Shura Council, on the grounds that the party faced internal struggles. But most observers believe the real reason for the suspension was the campaign launched by the newspaper against Haydar Haydar's Banquet for Seaweed. that resulted in student riots.
The SPC periodical report on the conditions of the Egyptian press has often cited Al-Nabaa, along with a dozen other publications, for journalistic violations including inaccurate information and inappropriate language and photos.
For its part the Press Syndicate has cancelled Mahran's membership -- not for the latest offences but for being a shareholder and chief editor at the same time, which is a violation of Syndicate regulations. Mahran was being investigated by the Syndicate already for dismissing eight journalists who claim to have refused to blackmail businessmen into placing advertisements in the newspaper.
"In order to enhance the vital role this body (Press Syndicate) has to play in securing the future of the Egyptian press, I recommend forming an expanded working team charged with monitoring and following through on the relevant legislative issues, developing the autonomous financial resources of the Syndicate, establishing frameworks for promoting broader grassroot participation in Arab decision-making, and strengthening the Syndicate's role in professional training -- a complex and ongoing process that must involve both staff and management, if both are to continue to provide the service the nation and its people need," Nafie suggested.
"We are in a grave situation. This is not the only tabloid newspaper in town. The situation must be corrected before another bomb explodes in our faces," said Salaheddin Hafez, chief editor of the international edition of Al-Ahram.
"The Supreme Press Council is the body that granted a licence to this [Al-Nabaa] newspaper. It monitored its activities throughout the years, why didn't it take earlier the action it is now taking? We have become accustomed to solving issues when they explode and not remedying the matter as a whole," Hafez said. He proposes that the SPC take action against all tabloid newspapers and the Press Syndicate dismiss any "deviator" with the "aim of purifying the profession".
"We (journalists) are losing respect and credibility with the public. The freedom we had fought for is unfortunately abused. The future of the press is at stake if we do not solve the problem of tabloid newspapers," said Makram Ahmed.
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