CAIRO: Leading media professionals, journalists, and jurists gathered at a workshop on Sunday to discuss ways to improve the mass-media industry in post-revolutionary Egypt. The group discussed various media issues including methods for improving impartiality and dissemination of news to the masses, as well as ideas for increasing cooperation between the media and civil society organizations, according to press release by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). ANHRI and the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) revealed at the workshop, entitled “Improvement of Mass Media”, that according to their four-month study on the state of media in Egypt, it remained erratic and state-controlled, especially with the restoration of the Ministry of Information. Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, a leading rights activist, asserted that state-owned media interacts the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) in the same manner as it did under the former Hosni Mubarak regime. Saad Hagras, Editor-in-chief of Al-Alam Al-Youm, addressed the workshop and called for a complete revolution within the media industry, with the removal of Egypt's remaining laws and ideologies that prevent absolute freedom of speech and publication. Judge Ahmed Abou-Shousha criticized the media for attempting to turn public opinion against the justice system and called on the media industry to be more responsible with matters concerning the justice system for the protection of many of the judges involved. Editor in Chief of El-Badil website, Khaled el-Balshy, disagreed with the claim that there is a dispute between the media and the judiciary system and added that there needs to be an improvement in freedom of information in Egypt so journalists can access correct information rather than relying on “leaks” which often prove to be false or incorrect. BM
