Let me pass my greetings to the best journalist who lived during the press's golden age, a person who indeed deserves the title of "Professor", namely Prof. Salah Jahin. When I wrote what I have learnt from my professors, I came under fire by some people who believe that going back to those who taught me means mocking those who are striving to erase what I have learnt from my memory. Well, let me tell you that I think the future holds something good for us, something not very different from the past. Following on Salah Jahin's footsteps, I would like to talk about some of those whom I believe are the future stars of the press. I will intentionally mention young people, both from a professional and a biological point of view, while I will put off mentioning other talented journalists because they think, as I do, that our difficult present makes us look forward to our beautiful future as much as we look back at our respectable past. Among those whom I see as future stars is Mohamed Dunia, a promising leader; Khaled Salah, whose star sparkled at the appropriate time; Khaled Tawhid and Ezzat el-Naggar, as both deserve more than they have obtained. They are preceded by Yasser Mohibb and Mahmoud Khalil, two examples of old youth. I also see as future stars Akram Yousef, Alaa el-Shafei and Hamdy el-Husseiny, as they challenge despair with their talent. On the shore of journalistic devotion I find Mohamed el-Qousy, Hatem Qaraman, Amira Nagui, Heba Yaseen and Mohamed Mostafa, plus future stars Raghda Ra'fat, Jihan Sharawi, Atef Abel Wahid and Islam Hamed. Let met say that all these people and dozens more have taught me how to renew myself by continuously looking for battles, so that I can renew the fact-finding profession, better known as "the press". At a time which has killed talented journalists, these people that I have mentioned and indeed dozens more have survived. However, they are fighting against a minority who is dominating the press through their hypocrisy, the sparkling way they can introduce corrupt people and media pundits, and their work as advisors for powerful rich people. I do not know whether my optimism comes from my teachers, whom I am proud of, or from the stars of the future, in whom I see the characters of Jahin's operetta el-Leyla el-Kabira [The Big Night]. The next talented writers have had no Salah Jahin guiding them. As for me and my generation, we have tasted all kinds of punishment by those short people who have become our leaders. I do not regret being part of a generation who believed in Socialism and tasted the bitterness of the Setback. We were called on to raise religious values and were jailed on charges of faith. Fortunately – or unfortunately – I belong to a generation who was accused of everything and the opposite. We have been accused of being skillful, so our punishment has been to see ignorant people steering this country. We have been accused of being biased toward knowledge and objectivity, so we have been sentenced to follow semi-educated people because we did no demagogy. It makes me happy to remember my professors and to guide these talented people, as I may harvest what I am trying to sow – more young talented journalists – amid so many "great" writers. By the way, the list of talented promising journalists is still long.
