CAIRO - Group of pro-democracy media men has launched an initative to establish a new channel entitled el-Shaab Youreed or ‘What the people want' through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). They claim that the State-run media as well as privately owned outlets do not represent the will of the people. Belal Fadl, writer and TV presenter, together with media activists Ahmed el-Sawy and Asaad Taha held a press conference in Townhouse's El-Rawabet theatre in downtown Cairo to unveil their initiative. This channel will be financed by Egyptians, who will be the owners of the new channel. Every Egyptian can buy an IPO for LE10, according to the media activists. "This initiative was born after the Egyptian people found that the official media that should express their views were failing to play t his role," Belal Fadl said during the conference. The idea has emerged after the state media reporting, which many Egyptians found ‘shameful, of the Maspero events on October 9, in which many Copts, supported by Muslims, were involved in deadly clashes with the armed forces outside the State Radio & TV station. It was also prompted by attacks made on certain TV channels, including Elhurra and 25. The most recent relevant incident was the cancellation by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) of an episode of Youssri Fouda's famous ONTV programme Akher Kalam (Last Word). The popular TV interviewer intended to host the internationally known Egyptian writer Alaa el-Aswany to speak and comment over the SCAF's performance during the last nine months after the 25 January revolution, The local press has reported that members of the media and press, including Youssri Fouda, Belal Fadl, Asaad Taha, Yasser el-Zayat and human rights activists and lawyers Gamal Eid and Amir Salem signed a declaration that an IPO will be launched to open this channel today in Tahrir Square. It stated that one share costs only 10 LE and that the maximum share value per any one person is one per cent of the shares' total value. However, the General Authority for Financial Control (GAFC) has warned against this IPO's lack of legal documentation and referred also to it not being possible to call for such an IPO without its approval. After GAFC's warning, media man Hussein Abdel-Ghany, one of the initiative ‘s founders, has confirmed that neither he nor its other partners can break the law. Additionally, Asaad Taha has stated that the conference, which was held yesterday, was held only to announce the initiative. "We are not a group of extremists, we will found an independent Egyptian company according to the law and we will complete all the requisite legal steps soon", affirmed Amir Salem, lawyer, activist and one of the initiative founders.
