CAIRO: The National Coalition for Media Freedom, which consists of media activists, human rights organizations defending the independence of the Egyptian Media, was launched on Sunday, which coincided with the celebration of Labor Day in Egypt. An online statement by the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), said the coalition held its first meeting, on Saturday April 30, and was attended by 13 civil society, human rights organizations and trade unions in addition to 20 media activists representing various sectors of media branches. The statement explained that the coalition is a “democratic framework for coordinating the work of activists, media professionals interested in the development of Egyptian media on the basis of independence of the various forms of government control, in order to assert the right of citizens to knowledge, communication, information and freedom of opinion and expression.” The founders of the Coalition approved in the meeting the declaration of media freedom, which they will launch in a press conference at the Cairo Journalists Syndicate on May 3, on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day. The founders declared that the membership of the coalition is open to all civil society organizations, activists and journalists who wish to participate in accordance with the statute of the coalition, which was adopted unanimously. The declaration is a democratic initiative from the coalition to organize Egyptian media's performance in the coming period. BM
