Egypt to Convert Printed Press to Electronic Form

Ahmad El-Assasy

Egypt National Press Authority said that in a project carried out with the involvement of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology companies, it was finalizing the digitization of some domestic press organizations.

Officials said they hoped the plan would help decrease economic losses for printed media.

The move is part of a new press and media law, which gives the government the right to oversee and manage work at press institutions, merge or end some press and publishing institutions or publications that the state deems no longer profitable, while retaining print editions of main publications, according to The Arab Weekly.

A number of print newspaper and publication editors, including Al-Ahram, Al Akhbar, Al-Jumhuriyah, Rose al-Yusuf, and Dar Al-Maaref, were informed that print copies of their publications would be discontinued, but the publications would continue in an electronic form.

They were told that the decision was final and not open to discussion, leading to complaints from journalists and staff at the publications.

The move will result in high rates of disguised unemployment in those papers ' editing, printing, layout, circulation, subscription and advertising departments, and that situation will be an additional burden on each institution's budget as it will be compelled to employ people whose jobs have been suppressed.

Newspaper employees said they were afraid that the digitisation of publications might lead to early retirement layoffs. The changes would reduce the number of employees to ease financial losses, officials in charge of restructuring national institutions admitted.

A media source said the plan was first applied to weekly publications that reported heavy financial losses and were unable to cover operating expenses.

The source, who asked to remain anonymous, said the decision would not apply to weekly publications that, although they have limited distribution, make reasonable gains, mainly through annual advertising contracts. "Each journalistic institution will have a portal that will provide access to all its publications that have been transformed from paper-based publications to digital publications," he said.

"The new project is like an integrated system to strengthen and expand the reach of the printed press and not eliminate it," said Karam Gabr, President of the National Press Authority, on national television. "It will include a new digital advertising system and maximize each press institution's relative value by offering a distinctive style to the general public at home and abroad."

An industry observer said that Egyptian newspaper managers "don't realize the danger of persisting in having them (the papers) speak only on behalf of the government, irrespective of changing their publication policies or forms, from print to electronic.

"These papers will not improve their condition or end their crises unless they change from being the government's voice to being the street's voice or at least strike a balance between the two."

Another problem with running a digital newspaper is the lack of qualified workers.

Many journalists are used to working in the traditional style of journalism and it will be a challenge to change culture and habits to convince them that e-readers may not be attracted by what was published in the print version.

The National Press Authority said that the main issue is not to convert publications from print to electronic versions, but to the human element. In the affected publications, the authority has set up training programs and workshops for journalists.

Observers said the move by the government to end the national newspapers indirectly is a tacit admission of their inability to manage the publications effectively. The decision reflects a regression in the national press view of the government as the media platform for conveying messages from the government.

Magdi Badr, professor of journalism and television at the Cairo Higher Information Institute, said the developments were a message the government considered a heavy burden on the national press.

He said the choice to exclude some domestic press was related to the government's enhanced allegiance of private media and that the government would not have moved in that direction if it had not discovered alternative platforms playing the same role as the official press.

The next step in the plan to convert formal print media into electronic versions would include adjustments to the papers ' boards of directors and publishers.

For each publication, managers with backgrounds in business administration would be assigned but are not anticipated to interfere with the editorial line and content of the journal.

This implies that public policy in dealing with domestic journals will be fundamentally focused on asset management, maximizing funds, and introducing company initiatives, while editorial content has been said to be of little importance to the government.