CAIRO: When we look back at the creation of websites, more often than not the idea can be traced to blogs, directly or indirectly. This is the case with Bikyamasr.com, which began as an assignment while helping start one of Egypt's English language editions of a local Arabic daily. After a few months and growing success, bikyamasr.com was established and news was the course of the day. My experience, having been a longtime journalist for a number of years before starting the blog, has been one of learning and understanding. Taking on the role of blogger was something that I had never before imagined, but then, in June 2009 it began. Bikya Masr was created. As an established journalist, the goal was credibility and content. Quickly, those who joined forces with the effort learned that credibility is arguably the most important aspect of blogging, as it is in traditional media. The Bikyamasr.com story Bikyamasr.com, when it was transformed into a proper news website in the fall of 2009, was the first media site to publish regular stories focusing on women's issues, the environment and green efforts. Since our beginning, these issues have always had a special place in the Bikyamasr.com heart. Over the past two years, Bikyamasr.com has become a household name in Egypt and around the region, but it was a process that combined new media strategies, blogging and a sense of purpose – one that without funding found well-intentioned individuals eagerly willing to write on those issues close to their heart. In essence, Bikyamasr.com's model has led to great success and can be an important part of anyone looking to enter the new media landscape. The name of one's blog or website is vital to its initial impression on those interested in coming to a site. Bikyamasr.com is an Arabicized version of the Italian, meaning Egypt's Clutter, and was chosen at the beginning of the activist movement in Egypt's push toward change, which culminated in February 2011 with the end of a dictatorial regime of more than 30 years. It immediately garnered attention from the right people: journalists, commentators and those familiar with Egypt and the Arabic language. Over the past two years, we have gone from 20,000 visitors in our first month online to over 250,000 monthly today. This number is expected to grow in the coming months as we add new sections and continue to provide credible news to our readers. Many of our writers have been traditional bloggers. Giving them an outlet to develop ideas and deliver concise essays on the issues not being covered by mainstream media has been one of our greatest successes. In 2010, Dalia Ziada, a prominent blogger – she was featured in TIME Magazine – began to write periodically for Bikyamasr.com. She had already established herself a large following on her personal blog, but wanted to get involved in helping to progress the website further. The credibility she brought in her opinion articles cannot be understated. She is a smart, educated and well-respected woman in Egypt and when she writes, people read. Ziada then submitted one of her articles to the Anna Lindh Foundation for an award. She won, giving Bikyamasr.com its first honor. Through her writing and analysis, she took what she knew as a blogger and transformed that into well articulated essays on the cultural, political and social situation facing Egypt. To win an award shows that combining blogging and traditional media in the Bikyamasr.com model can be not only successful, but award-winning. Today, as I write this chapter, another one of our contributors, also an Egyptian woman, Ethar al-Katatney, recently won the Samir Kassir Award for Freedom of Press that recognizes journalistic works that push the boundaries. These two women have shown that one does not have to be flamboyant. Katatney's article, ironically, was turned down by a number of publications before she came to us. This is what makes Bikyamasr.com special. We have taken the blogger mentality and put it toward an almost traditional sense of ethics. We have not lost sight of our roots, and the combination – albeit in reverse from journalist to blogger to journalist – is something that can be achieved. Most importantly, when we look at the establishment of any new media endeavor, we must always strive to fill a gap, or do better what others attempt. This can be said of green writing, blogging and media coverage in the Middle East. It is substandard, and that is being amiable. Make it green Going green in the Middle East is a difficult topic, one that few media outlets have been willing to tackle. Those that do often struggle to understand the very information they are attempting to detail for readers. The Green Prophet is one of the few media outlets in the region that has been able to transcend the failure of public discourse to bring environmental awareness to a larger population. At Bikyamasr.com, we have attempted to bridge the environmental lack of understanding. Almost all issues are directly or indirectly related to sustainability, and in Egypt, the situation was in dire need of being rectified when we began publishing in 2009. In media terms, there is simply no reason that organizations or blogs today are not pushing the green environmental issues that demand our attention. When we began, the few people working on the Bikyamasr.com project felt that the environment and green issues should be a major focal point of our work. While this has ebbed and flowed over the course of two years, as contributors leave and move on, Bikyamasr.com has become a trusted source on the Nile Basin and the Red Sea, promoting efforts made by organizations and officials to keep their environments clean. As a blogger, linking to and reporting on the issues that surround us are vital to helping others understand the larger picture. Going green should not be an arduous task, it should take paramount in how your blog functions. Creating working journalists Whether we are blogging or working for traditional media outlets, our goal should be to create an idea that is sustainable and far reaching. Maintaining one's credibility, as stated above, is key to keeping readers coming back day after day. With Bikyamasr.com, we have been successful in training a number of individuals through daily reporting, which has transformed their careers. Not being able to pay our staff means we must offer something that they could not get elsewhere. Our internship program and openness to accept contributions from non-established writers has been a two-fold success. First, it means we are able to publish unique articles that other places somehow do not feel necessary. These articles are often among the most read. Giving non-professionals a voice hearkens back to the blog idea, where one not need have extensive writing experience to contribute, and contribute with success. I am routinely surprised at readers' responses to articles from the myriad contributors who have never before set foot into the journalism realm. With our guidance, these writers have been able to hone their skills and create a name for themselves when the traditional media outlets would not give them a notice. The power of the blog coming through in our work. Second, through our internship, a number of our reporters have gone on to successful careers in traditional media. The blog concept as we have striven to put forth in a traditional setting, is more than successful. Sallie Pisch, an integral part of our increased production and a vital component of our superb coverage of the Egyptian uprising in early 2011, spent 9 months working and developing her skills as a writer. She began with no experience in journalism and when she ended her time with Bikyamasr.com in early March, she took on the role as head of Egypt's al-Youm al-Saba'a English Edition. Not bad for someone only one year previous had never before written a news article. Needless to say, we are proud. To Blog or Not Too often the idea of a blog is seen as lacking substance, or is viewed as the personal rantings of one individual. In the Bikyamasr.com case, we learned early on that through the blog one can create and deliver solid reporting that is based in fact and sources. This should be the goal of anyone looking to develop their own website, news related or otherwise. Without first creating the Bikya Masr blog, it would never have morphed into the mainstream media outlet is has become today. While we are still looking for those pesky funders to take the project to the next level, anyone can do what we have done. It takes time and perseverance, but in the end the final product should be something you are proud of, and others will follow and agree. Blogging in today's new media landscape is not the first person daily occurrences that it may have initially begun as, instead it is a force that can, and does, compete with the mainstream media across the globe. A blogger needs no editor and nobody telling them what readers want. It is all about what you, as a writer, deem necessary for the public to know more about. BM
