Egyptian Media Pioneering Role

Since yesterday, Egyptian channels have begun implementing the recommendations of the Supreme Council for Media. These recommendations were issued in order to organize the media scene, set specific times for talk show programs, and organize the type of guests and the manner of the interview. I know that these recommendations were issued after studies and discussions and are based on media theories. One of the most important things in the seventeen recommendations is the need to control the duration of advertisements versus the materials.

 I hope, as the Supreme Council for Media promised us, that there will be fairness in distributing advertisements between government and private channels and other drama programs, in addition to the necessity that advertisements must obtain a permit from the Supreme Council for Media Regulation before they are shown, so that we can confront the wave of vulgarity and deviation from public morals. Also, it is necessary to set the time of talk shows to no more than an hour and a half, and is there time for the assistance of experts to present their opinions and discussions that must be comprehensive about the topic of discussion.

The noteworthy recommendation is that the sports channels need to allocate spaces for all different sports and clubs. I hope that all channels will be able to broadcast matches, with a focus on other activities, so that the viewer gets to know them and know that we have a world champion in modern pentathlon named Ahmed El Gendy, another champion in weightlifting named Heba Saeed, and also Mohamed El Sayed, the fencing champion.

All recommendations regarding talk shows and sports programs are an attempt to correct the course. We hope, after a period of time following implementing the experiment, it will be evaluated again. We hope that this experiment will lead to discipline in organizing the media, to more pioneerism and more professionalism, and that the Egyptian media will maintain its leadership as a soft power that influences internally, locally, regionally, and sometimes internationally. We are awaiting the results of the experiment and we hope that Egypt will restore its well-known pioneering role in the Middle East.