Egyptian state-run support for Mubarak cools (Feature)

By Nehal El-Sherif Feb 10, 2011, 14:26 GMT

Cairo - A noticeable change in the coverage by Egyptian state-run media of the country's ongoing protests - no longer limited to one-sided, pro-government reports - is another sign that President Hosny Mubarak's government is trying to regain the lost trust of the people.

'There is a transformation. Al-Ahram newspaper is actually becoming very neutral in its coverage,' Ahmed Dreiny, a young Egyptian journalist, said of Egypt's oldest state-run newspaper.

For years, al-Ahram simply ignored any protests targeting Mubarak.

On January 26, for instance, a day after the latest demonstrations got underway in Cairo, the main story on its front page was about protests taking place in Lebanon.

When it eventually started covering the unrest in Egypt, it used words like 'revolution' and 'uprising' rather than 'crisis' or 'turmoil.'

And after Mubarak supporters attacked people camping in Cairo's Tahrir square, in clashes that left at least 11 dead and hundreds injured, it and other state-run papers talked of 'millions' protesting in the streets 'supporting Mubarak.'

Local television channels, for their part, have not been much different in the way they have covered the momentous events taking place across the country.

Talk shows broadcast at the height of the protests featured men and women calling in, crying or screaming, asking demonstrators to stop 'harming the country.'

Many Egyptians tuned in to regional Arabic satellite broadcasters such as the Qatar-based al-Jazeera instead.

'These events show that our media failed miserably in dealing with people's issues and have abandoned objectivity,' wrote Ali Hashem, the head of al-Gomhouriya newspaper, another government mouthpiece, in a rare apology.

But on Thursday, al-Ahram finally acknowledged the magnitude of the problem by printing a large photograph of the protests on its front page. Al-Gomhouriya, another government mouthpiece, went one further by admitting that more than a million people had taken to the streets on the previous day.

Suddenly, newspapers are competing with independent media to cover the protests and publish stories that can go as far as highlighting negative actions by the government.

These days, the thousands camping in the central Cairo square are no longer 'people paid to be there by foreigners.'

Such a shift in tone may be in part explained by the fact that the government-run media, as well as Minister of Information Anas El- Fiqqi, came under fire from the people on the street, some of whom waved banners reading 'exclusive lying in state-run media.

Another likely explanation is Sunday's meeting between Omar Suleiman and representatives of various opposition groups, after which the country's new vice president pledged to expand freedom of information.

On Wednesday, Mubarak's administration also restored the broadcast feeds for al-Jazeera Arabic and al-Jazeera Live channels, both of which had been banned from the country's Nilesat operator for more than a week.

'They probably realized that their tactics and orchestrated campaign failed and left the public angry at them,' said Hany Shukrallah, editor of the English-Language Ahram online portal.

'Now, they try to appeal to the public again, after they were inciting people to murder.'

Independent journalists have also played a part in the transformation. They held a demonstration against Makram Mohamed Ahmed, the head of the press syndicate, for making a pro-Mubarak speech. On Thursday, Ahmed announced he would be going on 'unlimited leave.'

Though it may take time before Egypt can enjoy the kind of free media that Westerners have become accustomed to, Shukrallah believes that 'solid, professional journalism' may soon be given a chance in Egypt.

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