Abdullah Hamed-Cairo
Ahmed, a pseudonym for an Egyptian journalist with a state-owned press corporation, can only wait every morning for what will be circulated by an anonymous officer via a group on WhatsApp.
The group "WhatsApp Instructions," as it is called among journalists, has become the reference for how to deal with the media issues and current events.
In a recent explosion near the Cairo Oncology Institute, a joke whispered in the newspaper editorials that the delayed coverage - arousing widespread criticism - was due to the fact that the press liaison officer had not yet woken up.
According to reporters, the group "WhatsApp instructions" only limited to editors in the press, most of them at the same time prepared in the programs "Talk Show" evening.
Previous facts
Despite the Egyptian media's knowledge of the story of the circulation of news, its appearance came through a spontaneous mistake, where anchor Nuha Darwish exposed aside what is being sent through the group "Whatsapp", when it followed on the air in a local satellite statement on the death of the late President Mohamed Morsi, where she concluded Read the statement with “Sent from Samsung”.
The spontaneous error raised the ridicule of those familiar with plans to circulate the news, as it caused the urgency to print the news as came from the officer even the additions that may be added by the phone!
Journalists criticized the Egyptian media coverage of the death of the late President Mohamed Morsi, where the news of the death was circulated briefly, without mentioning his position as former president of Egypt.
A leaked audio broadcast by the opposition Mcmalin channel showed the media receiving instructions on the text of what they were supposed to say on various issues and directed by an officer named Ashraf El-Kholy, but the Egyptian government denied the authenticity of those leaks.
The headlines of the official and private newspapers are identical, especially in major events, and the content is repeated enough to suggest that one publication has been circulated to all newspapers, which prompted the head of the National Press Authority Karam Gabr to admit in previous press statements that Egyptian newspapers have become duplicates of some of them. Each other.
From the whisper to the public
The irony of the deterioration of the conditions of newspapers and journalists whispered, became a curse announcer circulating among journalists with coffee cups in the editorial halls of private and official newspapers, where newspaper officials turned themselves to censors blocking publication, without waiting for the instructions of the officer in charge, they begin to prevent the publication of any suspicious news, Lest an official be angry, it could be dismissal from private newspapers, or freezing in government newspapers.
Journalists are aware of what is needed for publication and how to handle it. Every bad news must have a hand in the Muslim Brotherhood.
The phenomenon is no longer a cover-up, but has become a reason to boast of the ability to take a bridge to continue in the functions, and the galleries of stories filled with stories that until the recent past calls for shame.
In the incident of an assault on a teacher a few days ago in Port Said governorate, a journalist working for a newspaper whose ownership was transferred to a security service recently said that he tried to publish the incident, which was ignored by most newspapers, by rephrasing the news of the attack. Individually.
Despite this initiative for automatic compliance with the instructions, he was worried that this would not be the case.He took the precaution of his official opinion as a precaution.He ruled out the news.``Bani, our operator is an officer, I want to offend his colleague, '' he said.
The spirit of resistance
In private, journalists admit that the profession has become insulted and dissatisfied with their work, but the spirit of resistance continues to bleed in the blood of journalists forced to "eat live" to work under the security guillotine.
The disc editor in one of the newspapers of the island Net they are editing the news as the officers want supervisors, but in an exaggerated way, making it a subject of ridicule and trivia on social networking sites, in retaliation for this grip on their breath, as he put it.
It has become difficult to obtain statements from press sources infected by fear, and to overcome this crisis there was an unannounced agreement between journalists that those who succeed in obtaining a permit to pass to his colleagues, and those who refuse will not benefit later advantage of sharing the statements, which contributed to make the newspapers and their sites Electronic duplicates.
DMC or the intelligence channel in Egypt cuts the services of 150 employees. 150 families stop their monthly income. The channel failed and no media succeeds with tyranny. Tomorrow will abolish the profession of journalism in Egypt. - Salim Azouz (@ selimazouz1) August 26, 2019 |
The role of Sharif in a respectable place in any appropriate field is not necessary in the media or the press. |
Job search
Social media has seen journalists display their biographies publicly for work, with hundreds of journalists finally being laid off as a result of their financial crises and repeated government statements about rationalization of spending and restructuring.
Fleeing financial and professional harassment, Ali went to work as a driver through Uber, after failing to meet his family's low salary requirements.He used his daily views to turn his Facebook profile into a real-time newspaper.He then went back to writing about public affairs, contenting himself with comic strips.
It was not only Ali who decided to stop discussing public affairs through the websites, preceded and followed by others after the Supreme Media Council decided to impose sanctions on thousands of pounds - based on a recent law - on journalists who criticized government officials, including the journalist Al-Ahram Wajih Al-Saqar, who was unable to write His opinion on the policies of the Ministry of Education in his newspaper, he wrote on his personal page, and was fined ten thousand pounds (the dollar about 16.5 pounds).
The cameramen are the most targeted by the sanctions and security prosecutions.
A number of photographers have been arrested on charges of filming in the street without permission, according to a report by the Freedoms Committee of the Journalists Syndicate under preparation.