Mr. Yasser Abdel Aziz is an Egyptian media expert who has deeply contributed in the development of media in the Arab World. He got his bachelor and master’s degrees in journalism and then, worked as a journalist in Middle East News Agency. He also trained thousands of journalists and editors in sixteen Arab countries. Moreover, Abdel Aziz joined the BBC and worked there as a consultant for the Middle East and North Africa. In addition, he published many books and research papers, such as “The Globalization of News Agencies”; he also writes articles every week in newspapers like Egypt’s Al Masry Al Youm, Kuwait’s Al Jareeda and Oman’s Oman.
In an interview with the students of the College of Language and Communication at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport in Alexandria, Yasser Abdel Aziz discussed the current media in Egypt. He gave some helpful pieces of advice to the students who want to work in the field of media and also provided many suggestions for the development of media.
1- How do you see the Egyptian media nowadays?
I cannot evaluate a certain phenomenon in the field of media by expressing
an opinion; in order to tackle any phenomena, we should analyze it from four
different aspects. We have certain elements that identify the media industry in Egypt. The
media industry expands, or in other words, the amount of media investments
increases; therefore, the audience increases as well. There is a jump and a
great challenge in the technical means in this industry. So, here are four weak
points in the media industry:
First, it does not work methodically. Every
product in Egypt is observed, except for media productions; for example, if you
buy any food product and turns out to be expired or inedible, you can simply
file a complaint in the Ministry of Health or the “Consumer Protection” center.
Unfortunately, if you hear something on the news or on any media outlet that
bothers you or is offensive, you will not find someone to whom you can complain.
This highlights the major weak point in the Egyptian media; media is an industry
that lacks any sort of organization and it is not even a subject that can be
evaluated.
Second, money, invested in the majority of
the media industry, unfortunately, relies almost entirely on anonymous sources.
Third, there are not disclosure statements, therefore, we do not know who
defends or represents the other anymore.
Fourth, sharp practicing is the key to
success in media nowadays. Promotion is held in high regards, making
journalists and presenters search for this practice; for example, a presenter
could wear a "galabeya", a female anchor on a talk show can sing, or maybe
someone can say that he could attack someone else.
Sharp practice is one of the negative points
in the media industry and audiences in Egypt hail this bad practice. The majority
of audience sectors -not all of them- encourage this bad media practice by
sharing, watching and also commenting on it.
Unfortunately, we are facing great dangers
that threaten the media and, at the same time, we have a great opportunity to overcome
and organize this through the Media Legislations Committee that is working
nowadays and will supposedly impose needed regulations on media.
2- What are the lines that separate media freedom from personal privacy?
Privacy means the private life of oneself
and it is, definitely, protected by the law and the constitution. The
international covenant on civil and political rights also protects privacy. The
real role of journalism is to tell the news which is related to the public
domain. Both public and private domains cannot be intermingled because if the
private domain affects the public one, then they are the ones who crossed the
line.
The public interest is not only achieving
tangible interests, but also protecting the vital values. The public and
private domains will only intersect if the private domain influences the public
interest, which is, indeed, related to the tangible interests and the vital
values of the audience.
3- How do you see the idea of independent media, or in other words, the media initiatives by the youth?
A
large number of the youth in media began to move towards the internet and
social networking websites. These networks are very significant and reflect vitality
and freshness considering news; however, they do not follow any sort of
organization. Thus, more than 80% or 90% of what is published on these social
networking websites are not organized according to the regulations and steps of
the news stories, leading this phenomenon to create an artificial and virtual
world for young journalists because they believe or take the word of uncertain
information.
4- What is your advice to the youth media?
I advise the youth media to: firstly, not cut
their links with the traditional media like T.V and newspapers. Secondly, be
aware of how the social networks tackle the news. Thirdly, do not consider
these pieces of information as statements, which have not been confirmed yet as
facts. Finally, I am very ambitious towards the youth, for they will be able to
create the real change in the media industry in a country like Egypt because
they are capable of bringing new ideas that suit their generations’ needs. The
Egyptian Youth, today, represent 60% of the nation; therefore, they must be the
core of any project in media that needs sustainability.
5- What are your suggestions in media development; especially freedom in media?
First, we need to set regulations or an
independent organizational body to organize the media industry in Egypt.
Second, we need to activate the constitution maturities, which are declared on
January 2014, related to media and the ones, as well, of the freedom of
expression which are not suitably activated up till now. Third, we need to
transfer the public media from the governmental dominance to independent bodies
that guarantee a balanced performance to serve all the nation’s corners.
6- Is there any practice in journalism that follows the objectivity values?
Objectivity
is a precious value for which we have to work; there are media organizations
that are less subjective than others. If I want to compare, for example, between
The Independent newspaper in the United Kingdom and The Sun, I
will definitely insist that The Independent is more loyal to these
objective values than The Sun.
Link of the Interview Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjYpn0UZRwk
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