CAIRO: A couple of independent journalists' syndicates were recently launched to break the monopolization represented by the official Journalists' Syndicate indicating a root change in associations and unions moving more towards plurality. The first syndicate presents itself as an alternative to the official Journalists' Syndicate currently paralyzed awaiting board elections by the end of 2011 after mass resignations of its board members in the aftermath of the January 25 Revolution. However, the problem goes further back. "A permanent contract is the carte-blanche to membership in the Journalists' Syndicate. For this contract, you may spend several years of hard work yet it is not guaranteed if your editor doesn't like you for some reason," said Shaimaa Galal, cofounder of the Independent Journalists' Syndicate. "Membership conditions in the existing syndicate need to be reformed to stop the humiliation of journalists in their own institutions who had to shift their focus from professionalism to satisfying their editors whatever it takes," she added. According to Galal, these conditions aren't lawful, as the law requires working in the media field for the Journalists' Syndicate's membership and doesn't mention the permanent contract which is the general requirement the syndicate works by. The Journalists' Syndicate also manipulates the law applying only two of four rosters in membership, trainee and working members, she added. Along with Wael Tawfik and members of "Journalists without a Syndicate" Facebook group, Galal, who is not a member of the Journalists' Syndicate herself, helped found the new syndicate. Applying for membership only requires a one-year portfolio of work. The Journalists' Syndicate, according to the new Independent Journalists' Syndicate founders, turned into a service provider as if it were an alternative to the government whereas its main role in defending the rights of journalists and press freedom waned. It also became a political platform, whether pro or anti government, which is in violation of the law. "The biggest manipulation is ousting journalists working for foreign-licensed publications under the Supreme Council for Journalism, who are not members of the Journalists' Syndicate to begin with. This is a double standard," Wael noted. The new Independent Journalists' Syndicate will not limit its membership to journalists working in print media but to employees in the media field in general from producers, anchors, online journalists, photographers and others. Online journalists Another group formed the Egyptian Online Journalists' Syndicate (EOJS) providing security and legitimacy to thousands of journalists working in a growing form of journalism. "We reached out to many professionals to join us in defining online journalists who work for an online newspaper or a news website that has a permanent office and a clear administrative structure and how they are different than the blogger or the citizen journalist," said Salah Abd El-Sabor, EOJS founder and secretary general of the Arab Union for Electronic Journalism (AUEJ). Online journalists are almost excluded from the Journalists' Syndicate's membership. Only journalists who work for online portals related to print newspapers such as Al-Youm Al-Sabei and Al-Masry Al-Youm are granted membership, excluding independent news websites that do not print a newspaper. The idea of pluralistic syndicates is favored by many journalists who believe that the "one career one syndicate" rule should be abolished. "Monopolization has been going on since the 60s. It's a real catastrophe because the right to assembly should be protected," Saiid Shoeib, director of the Center of Unified Journalists, noted. Although Egypt is a signatory of the ILO 1948 Convention no. 87 dealing with Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, opening room for pluralistic syndicates, successive Egyptian regimes never applied it on the ground which is why AUEJ was established last year as a union after failing to create an independent syndicate. EOJS, firstly discussed in July 2010, will be the first of its kind in the Arab world while Morocco may be the next to follow, said Salah, journalist at MBC.net. "We test different skills an online journalist should have beside the traditional journalism skills and if proven unqualified, we offer courses in online journalism that qualifies the journalist to become a member in EOJS," Salah added. Nearly 850 applications were received in two months for EOJS while almost 150 members were accepted. Members are employees of Moheet, MBC.net, OnIslam, El-Wafd portal, Radio Horeyetna and Masrawy. "We're preparing a law that organizes online publication on the internet which will be presented to parliament to reach credibility and accountability," Salah said. Almost two thirds of Egypt's journalists are not members of the Journalists' Syndicate because of restricting membership conditions whereas some members, due to the contract condition, are not journalists but employees in newspapers, said Sayed Fathy, chairman of El-Helaly Center for Freedom. "Any professional group that wants to establish a syndicate can submit required documents to the Ministry of Manpower. If no objection is received in a month, the syndicate is legally established," Sayed explained. Prime Minister Essam Sharaf announced on Labor Day that the government is currently working on pluralistic syndicate law that will be finalized in the near future.
