CAIRO: On November 8, TIME Magazine correspondent Abigail Hauslohner was detained briefly after interviewing a fruit vendor in Cairo's middle-class Rod al-Farag neighborhood. She wrote on Twitter: “Maj Gen Tareq: ‘If u publish anything about me I'll chase you back to America.' [Laughs]. Welcome to #egypt.” The incident, while not serious, highlights the growing difficulty that journalists, both foreign and local, have in attempting to deliver a diverse understanding of the nuanced and plurality that is Egypt. Islam, democracy, women, secular, are but a few of the myriad views that exist in Egypt's 80 million strong population. While Hauslohner is one of the few foreign journalists to venture out of offices and onto the street to get a glimpse of everyday life in Egypt, others in the over-saturated journalism environment that is Egypt, have failed to deliver a true image that is Egypt. Few reporters dare leave the friendly confines of Cairo. While it is abhorrent that even one reporter would be detained for interviewing someone on the street, there needs to be a return to the streets by journalists. No longer can we, as a profession report what the elite, party leaders, and wealthy purport. Journalism in Egypt, be it local publications or foreign ones, needs to take back the middle-class identity that journalism was founded on. One could simply take a page from the ultimate grassroots mobilizing organization in the country: the Muslim Brotherhood. Over the past few decades, the Brotherhood has slowly created a bottom-up movement that has enabled their group to flourish in the newfound “freedom” in the post-uprising Egypt. They, in essence, took to the people and began talking with them, rather than to them. Journalism, and media in general, in Egypt is arguably the most important democracy building sector of society. Locally, this means enabling the lower classes, including those fruit sellers, and the average person, to have a voice, to tell the world what they want. It isn't about judgments. That's for the analysts to develop. For foreign media working in Egypt, the problem centers on what the editor sitting in New York, London, or elsewhere, believes is the story. This creates an incestuous situation where journalists and activists are often hanging out together, partying and more. No wonder we have so many stories about certain individuals opposed to the plight of millions of Egyptians. Report on who we know, seems to be par for Egypt. Those few reporters like Hauslohner who have actually lived in Egypt for more than 10 months are the exception. We have witnessed the influx of dozens, probably more, journalists wanting to get into the revolution atmosphere that is Egypt. These journalists, while most certainly solid at their trade, are not familiar with Egypt. They do not understand the ins and outs of society and have fallen into the grips of the elite. In order to overcome this reporting and return to delivering the news, all news, from the wealthy to the poor, we must be vigilant in our coverage and speak to individuals on the street. Understand their story is most certainly more telling ahead of a national election than the activists on Twitter. The story of the less well-off segments of society should be told. It must be delivered with as much vigor as the stories glamorizing the “Twitter revolution” was earlier this year. But probably the only real way for the world to see and hear the true message of all Egyptians, not only what those editors thousands of miles away want, is to focus on local media, like Bikyamasr.com, Al-Masry Al-Youm's English Edition, The Daily News Egypt and others in order to give a complete picture of a country that is as diverse in its views as that diversity is lacking in foreign coverage of Egypt. BM
