CAIRO: The media is painting a grim picture of Egypt's future right now. Images of violence predominate, and some worry that the revolution will succeed only in replacing one dictator with another. However, no matter who wins Egypt's parliamentary (...)
By 2020, the way we consume news will be drastically different, writes Tarek Attia. Are those who make the media ready for the new realities?
Although an increasing number of Egyptians receive their entire news from digital sources (online, mobile), (...)
Tarek Atia listens to experts around the world talk about the future of news
'Will newspapers still exist in 10 years time?'
Over the course of the past year, first in Seoul and then in Moscow, the biggest players in the global newspaper industry (...)
From Ahlam 'Adiya 's Nadia Anzaha to Ahlam fil Bawaba 's Hagg Lutfi, characters in this year's Ramadan TV dramas continue to provide the mixed messages for which the month is famous, writes Tarek Atia
Would it be an exaggeration to say that, in many (...)
Everyone has an interpretation of what the campaign means but people get tongue-tied when you ask: "Have the elections inspired you to think more about politics?" Tarek Atia unties a few knots
Despite all the campaigning, nothing much has happened. (...)
The reason so many people think the elections are just a show, writes Tarek Atia, is because all they can do -- for now -- is just watch
Everyone is willing to admit that the Egypt we are seeing today -- on TV, in the papers, on the street -- is (...)
Some see the presidential campaign as a superficial exercise in make-believe. Perhaps, writes Tarek Atia, but it also has the potential to be a dress rehearsal for the real thing
It certainly looks like a real election. The streets are filled with (...)
The clash of civilisations is well underway. The problem, writes Tarek Atia, is that Machiavelli is coaching both sides
I'm sick of watching bombs explode on the TV screen. Disgusted by the spiteful rhetoric that always comes next -- each side (...)
Living in the same building as the Israeli Embassy makes for an uncomfortable neighbourhood. Tarek Atia talks to residents of Ibn Malek Street in Dokki
Mustafa -- who lives in the Nile-side apartment building that houses the Israeli Embassy in Cairo (...)
On the beach in Marsa Alam, Tarek Atia sees a refining of the resort town recipe
There are no waves at Um Galawa beach. The crystal-clear, blue-green water is "a carpet", as they say. Which makes the sight of a large, half-sunken boat, just a (...)
Tarek Atia rails against the moral ambiguities in today's violence-saturated media
There is a decisive moment in the epic film Gandhi starring Ben Kingsley when the populist Indian leader takes his followers on a virtual suicide mission of (...)
The results are in, and Egyptians don't want Bush as US president. But that doesn't mean they like Kerry either, writes Tarek Atia
There is a recurring theme in US presidential politics, at least from an Arab point of view. And it goes like this: (...)
Like many others, Tarek Atia found Egyptian TV's coverage of the Taba blasts sorely lacking
"I couldn't believe what I was seeing," said Hossam El- Garahi, a stock exchange analyst. Having learned of the incident from the satellite channel, (...)
When will the Arabs find their own voice, asks Tarek Atia
Among media consumers Arabs are the smartest, says Mouafac Harb, news director of the new US-funded Arabic language satellite channel Al-Hurra. Ironically, Harb's acknowledgement that Arabs (...)
Tarek Atia watches as Cairo celebrates an American genius
It may be because Bill Gates is so omnipresent in our lives -- does "Resuming Windows" sound familiar? -- that his actual physical presence is, for lack of a better term, littler than life. (...)
It may have annoyed many, but Ramadan's most-talked about TV series attracted viewers in their millions. Tarek Atia examines the pulling power of Auntie Nour
"It's funny!"
If any show from the dozens of TV dramas on Arab screens this Ramadan had a (...)
Mood swings:
Money madness
By Tarek Atia
There have been telling moments already on this year's Ramadan TV. One was broadcast a few nights ago on Hala Sarhan's new talk show, Gana Al-Hawa. Sarhan has moved over from the helm of Dream to the top job (...)
Is Sahar Al-Layaly Oscar bound? Tarek Atia reads the fine print
For the first time an Egyptian film is going to the Oscars. That's the sound bite. The fine print is that Sahar Al-Layaly -- the "hottest film of the summer" -- will have to compete (...)
Is the ad world changing as fast as the audience, asks Tarek Atia
Click to view caption
I was duped. After years of very careful ad watching, diligently taking note of all the new techniques used by Egypt's advertisers to sell their clients' wares, (...)
The DJ will be determining your mood tonight
House- hunting
Profile by Tarek Atia
"So who's going to DJ your wedding?"
Hani Wahba is asked that question more than most people. He has, after all, DJed more weddings than most people would care to (...)
The image war between East and West will continue full speed ahead despite this week's high-profile Arab Media Summit in Dubai. Tarek Atia attended
The sad state of the Arab media, and of the image of the Arab world in the Western media, were (...)
By Tarek Atia
A byte of fresh air
A strange breed of modern souq has been springing up around Cairo over the past few years: "computer malls," that purport to give shoppers a chance to choose between different IT equipment vendors all in the same (...)
In a continuing effort to find a way out of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Egyptian diplomacy is moving in various directions, with the emphasis on the American. Tarek Atia and Nevine Khalil report
After an exchange of written messages and public (...)
As Israel steps up its 'targeted assassinations,' Egypt has rejected the idea of an Arab summit, much to the Palestinians' dismay, in favour of trying to convince the US and Europe to save the day. Tarek Atia reports
In a burst of frustration after (...)
As everyone waits anxiously for the US to fine-tune its proposal on the shape and form of observers to be sent to Palestine, Egypt steps in to try and avert an escalation of the crisis. Tarek Atia reports
It was a week of waiting, topped by a (...)