When Will Chaos of Scandals End?!

I followed up with great interest the statement of Head of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) Karam Gabr who issued a code of rules and ethics for publishing crime news and investigations. The Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) headed by Karam Gabr had many achievements during the short period in which he took office. We no longer see decisions to ban channels and prevent statements, but in this case he had to intervene after the phenomenon of judging people dominated basing on the social media, before the judge issues a ruling in any case.

Everyone realized during the last period that the rules and ethics of publishing were completely out of context, and the methods of publishing investigations and news of crimes became far from what we learned in the press, as we cannot publish the name of the accused ones...or issue prejudgments.

This statement issued by the Council brought us back to the necessary rules to ensure that press and media institutions adhere to the principles and ethics and preserve intellectual property rights.

The resolution stipulates that when publishing or broadcasting media coverage of crime and investigations, moderation, impartiality and objectivity must be adhered to, and honesty must be taken into account, we must be unbiased. A balance must be achieved between investigative coverage and news coverage of the crime..and not to underestimate or exaggerate in publishing or coverage. We  should not take quotations from anonymous sources and social media, and it is necessary to rely on official and reliable sources that enjoy credibility and clarity, and it is preferable to seek the opinion of legal, social and psychological experts..

The decision was keen to remind violators of the need to take into account the rule that every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty by a court ruling, and not to publish pictures or names of suspects or accused ones as long as they have not been convicted by a court ruling.

I hope that this decision will also be applied on social media so that we find a solution to the chaos of social media, the chaos of accusations and the chaos of scandals that we see these days. We need a legislation criminalizing publishing without restrictions.

Finally, I express my appreciation to Mr.. Karam Gabr, Mahmoud Fawzy, the Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Media Regulation (SCMR)  and all members of the council, which controls and regulates media and journalistic performance.