Thursday March 28th, 2024
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#MEDIABLACKOUT

While we do not claim to be a law experts, it seems that the constitution being proposed does not guarantee the fundamental rights of freedom of press. The fact is, there should be no such thing as state media in a democracy.

Staff Writer

Often, it ends up becoming a mouthpiece for the ruling regime as was demonstrated by their lack of coverage of Tahrir protests against Morsi, and their heavy bias towards the pro-Morsi rally. Just yesterday, TV presenter Hala Fahmy was cut off mid-show for daring to mention the problems facing journalists, using a burial shroud as a symbol of the death of freedom.

One of the aims of the revolution was to ensure the freedom of press. In fact, the independent and opposition press has long been politically active. Post-January 25th, the media flourished and we were beginning to see fair, balanced and uncensored coverage on the plethora of news and current affairs channels. Though this was shrouded in sensationalism, we began to see real, constructive debate and criticism on our airwaves. State television exists elsewhere, such as the publically-funded BBC, but in the UK, the government does not involve itself in the content put out by the network. In fact, the British government is one of the BBC’s harshest critics, continuously urging the corporation’s heads to play fair.