Cash-strapped Internet radio stations are wooing the public on tight budgets, reports Kamal Sultan Since the dawn of humankind, Homo sapiens have lived through one crucial stage of evolution after another. They saw language develop from signing to the spoken word and then to written symbols. In time they invented printing, and this eventually opened a way to the new horizons of mass communication: newspapers, followed by photography, cinema, radio and television. More recently the Internet has provided a new commercial outlet. Anyone with the right mobile phone can access the Internet, listen to the radio and watch TV and film. Internet radio has become increasingly popular in Egypt in the past few years. Its advantage is that it can reach out to the growing number of young people through a channel with which they are already familiar. They don't have to deal with the heavy cost of and governmental red tape setting up an FM station. Thus there are many individuals, institutions, and companies who have set up their own Internet-based service. The nature of the new stations differs according to their goals. The content and broadcasting hours also vary from one to the other. During their off time, some of the stations air broadcasts by other radio or television networks. One of the good things about an Internet station is that it is cheap to set up. All you need is: an encoder programme to air audio material on the Internet; a server to tackle the information; and a player programme to operate the broadcast material. These programmes are not costly, and some are available free on the Internet. Horytna is an independent news and cultural station that allocates considerable time to young people and is open to all currents and ideas. It started transmission in March 2007, and aims to spread the principles of human rights, democracy, citizenship and tolerance as well as encourage the public to participate in the reform process. Horytna is committed to both Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. "We don't compete with regular stations because electronic stations are considered a totally different media from regular radio," Ahmed Samih, the founder of Horytna, says. "This type of media is becoming successful across the globe. We are the first electronic station for young people in Cairo. We launched in March 2007, and during this short period of time our subscribers have grown to 3,500, in addition to 12,000 subscribers to our SMS service and more than 2,000 members on our Facebook group. Because we have reached out to so many listeners, we now take calls from our listeners in our programmes. We transmit four days a week and we have started pod-casting, which allows mobile phone users to access our broadcast on the Internet. Launched in June 2008, Banat W'bass (Girls Only) concerns itself with women's issues. the station has attracted women listeners of various ages and social classes. Founder of Banat W'bass, Amani El-Tonisi, says that since the station went on air, it had experienced financial pressure because of the lack of income. "Although we succeeded in reaching out to many listeners, most of the electronic stations have failed to attract advertisers. But this is bound to happen, because it is true that the young are more interested in these stations than they are in regular radio, and also because the ceiling of freedom is much higher in electronic stations, El-Tonisi said. When El-Tonisi decided to create Banat W'bass, she took out a personal loan for LE100,000. "I rented a headquarters for the station and was joined by 25 girls and five boys," she says. "Some of the boys produce a programme called Welad W'bass (Boys Only), and the others do various stuff. This actually helps dispel the impression that we are against men." Mahatet Masr has a different social aim. Founded by veteran broadcast journalist Osama Mounir, this is a station that targets young people. It provides entertainment programmes and songs as well as chat shows about the problems of the young. Mahatet Masr began broadcasting on 29 January 2009 and was officially launched a week later. Political parties are also making use of the new media. The Ghad Party station was the first Internet-based radio service in Egypt. The party formed its station in February 2005 to help the presidential campaign of its leader, Ayman Nour. For a few months the service, called Sawt Al-Horreya (Voice of Freedom), broadcasts the party programmes, campaign material and Nour's speeches. After Nour's imprisonment in late 2005 the station went off the air. The Muslim Brotherhood's flag station is Sama. The MB branch in Alexandria launched its station in October 2005: the station aired information about MB programmes for the 2005 parliamentary elections and conducted interviews with MB parliamentarians. The station also took phone calls from the public about their political preferences and parliamentary duties. Along with political programmes, Sama aired a comedy series about a man seeking to vote and the troubles he went through to cast his ballot. Later on Sama became a television service which broadcasts intermittently on the MB website, ikhwanonline.com. Not to be outdone, the National Democratic Party launched a station at the start of its fourth annual congress on 19 September. Its goal was to enhance communication between the party and its members, reach out to young people and create a connection between them and party leaders. Radio personnel are required to believe in the party's ideals and policies. The latest of the Internet radio services is Al-Mahrusa. Launched on 6 October 2009, it is an independent political and human rights station aiming to promote liberalism and human rights through the broadcast of news, entertainment and drama. Al-Mahrusa's programme director, Mushira Ahmed, says the station has three sections. One is the Al-Mahrusa Talk Show, which includes several programmes including Taqet Nour (Halo of Light), which is presented by Ayman Nour; Mowagaha (Confrontation), which is prepared and presented by Hossam Ali and encourages confrontation with the listeners over current issues; and Abbar Dot Com (Speak Out Dot Com), which is prepared and presented by Israa Abdel-Fattah and Mohamed El-Taher and focuses on blogs, Facebook and other means of Internet-based communication. The station carries other programmes such as Horreya (Freedom); Al-Said (The South); Chat Liberali (Liberal Chat); Hadi Al-Wadi (Singer in the Valley); Ala Heitet Al-Zinzana (On the Walls of Prison Cells); and Nogoum Al-Mahrusa (Stars of the Mahrusa). The other two sections are Al-Mahrusa Akhbar (Al-Mahrusa News) and Al-Mahrusa Drama. "Although this is a self-financed endeavour, we decided from the beginning to go about it in a professional way," Ahmed says. "We have a complete technical and administrative structure consisting of Hossameddin Ali as board chairman, Bassem Samir as chief editor, Israa Abdel-Fattah as financial and administrative manager, Youssef Mohamed as head of studio, and Kyrollos Nagui as on-site manager."
