MINISTER of Information Anas el-Feqi has ordered the Audio-visual Performance Assessment Commission to examine allegations that one of State television's most popular talk shows, ‘Masr el-Naharda' (Egypt Today), hurt the feelings of viewers when two guests, public figures, used the most obscene language to slander each other. One of the guests was Mortada Mansour, a celebrity in the legal community, who has arrested the public's attention with the tough way he questions his opponents from different walks of life, including high-ranking officials, in the courtroom. His adversary was former goalkeeper Ahmed Shobeir, an incumbent MP, who has also carved a niche for himself among the most popular presenters of sports TV talk shows. The ‘scandal on air' unfolded when the talk show's presenter risked inviting the two adversaries to settle their legal battles outside court and on air, with millions of viewers watching. But the helpless presenter soon lost control when his two guests got nasty. His appeals for calm were drowned out by their shouting. Apparently, the officials responsible for ‘Masr el- Naharda' are only interested in how much money they collect from the long, expensive advertising slots and interludes. The Minister of Information must have been the most embarrassed. He is a strident critic of private television channels, which, he alleges, injure the public's feelings and pride because of their sensationalist broadcasting. But the botched ‘Masr el-Naharda' episode was even more disgusting and shameful. “Rude, crazy and sleazy,” was how many viewers described this episode of ‘Masr el Naharda', which is broadcast at prime time in the evening, three days a week. It seems that the giant advertising agencies have become ‘dictatorial'.
