Egyptian Media Deficit
Name the three main categories of Egyptian newspapers.
Egypt has three main categories of newspapers; national government dailies (kawmiya), official party dailies (hizbiya), and independent and privately operated publications (mustakila)
What department of the Egyptian Government oversees the ERTU?
The Ministry of Information
How many people does the Ministry of Information employ?
Around 70,000
In his Journal, Bruce talked about how he put the five news channels in two dimensions, what are these dimensions?
Liberal Commercial Dimension and The Western Dimension
What is “media schizophrenia” in Egypt?
The difference in quality and accuracy between state media and private/satellite media; it makes viewers skeptical of state media content.
What kind of structure was ERTU referred to as and why?
It was referred to as a mechanistic structure, meaning it was highly structured, as Mubarak himself appointed all of the key officials.
What kind of methods did the Muslim Brotherhood use to suppress state media?
Used repressive legal texts prevalent under Mubarak to sue journalists with critical voices.
Threatened state journalists with pay cuts, suspension from work, and even military trials if they aired critical views of the Brotherhood.
Name one of the two hypotheses that Bruce used for his experiment.
H1- liberal commercial networks will be more likely to emphasize human interest framework then western style networks
H2- Visuals on allurha (western based network) will be more likely to emphasize the political frame in coverage compared to the other news networks
The opposition media (to the State media) and independent media in Egypt were limited in three main ways according to Iskandar, what were two of them?
They had limited funding, there were restrictive governmental licensing procedures, and often faced intimidation from the State.
Name 2 significant developments during Mubarak’s regime that changed the national media landscape.
El Shaer mentions 4 developments: the emergence of media privatization, introduction of private satellite television channels, the spread of privately owned opposition newspapers, growing internet accessibility.
Who removed the Muslim Brotherhood from power? And how did this new regime use state media to its advantage?
The Muslim Brotherhood was removed via a military coup.
The military used state media create propaganda that enhanced the value of the military (such as songs, commiques, etc.) and smeared any opposing voices.
What are the two main types of framing that Bruce uses for his hypotheses, and what is the difference between them?
Human Interest Framing and Public Affairs Framing. Human interest framing focuses on bringing a human face or emotional angle to an event, while public affairs framing (aka political strategy frame), emphasizes the actions of presidents, government agencies, political officials, etc.
What is "contextual objectivity" and how does it apply to Egypt's media deficit?
Results from attempts by news organizations to maintain independence and accuracy while tailoring coverage to the preferences of their respective audiences.
Egyptian media are always cautious not to offend political, religious, and social values- causes lack of journalistic integrity.
After the take down of the Mubarak regime in 2011, did the ERTU still exist? If so, who was running ERTU and for how long?
After the fall of the Mubarak Regime, the ERTU still existed. The old chair of the department was removed, and a communications and media professor was put in his place alongside a military general. The professor did not last a full year, and the military took control for four years after.
Describe a primary reason why state media was unable to reform during the immediate aftermath of the 2011 revolution.
Editors were replaced by those who wanted revenge/were marginalized, not necessarily those who were the most qualified.
Threat of military trial for those critical of SCAF.
No clear editorial policy; some conducted real journalism, others protected "old guard".
Were Bruce's hypotheses supported by his results? If so, why were they?
Only one of the hypotheses was partially supported, H2, because Allurha had a slightly higher percentage of political affairs framing compared to three of the other networks, but not more than Al Araybia.