Click here to go to Ib Knutsens frontpage
Click here to return to the writings page
Thank you, thank you and thank you
What is this about?
Who has been looking into this before?
What is the story in Egypt?
What did I do, and who did I talk to?
That about wraps it up.
 What I read, links and ethics code.
     
Quick links
Introduction

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to find out whether satellite communication has increased freedom of speech in Egypt.

Satellite communication was operationalised as communication that use satellite for whole or part of the communication event. This includes broadcasting, internet and cellular phones.

Freedom of speech was defined as the non-interference of the government in communication between individuals or organisations.

The heads of five Egyptian organisations were contacted in three fields, Non governmental, Private and Media, and then interviewed. The organisations were selected for their involvement in the field of communication, based on size.

Primary sources such as newspapers were used where relevant, as was secondary sources such as interviews with satellite operators and Egyptian officials, conducted by other than the author.

It was found that freedom of speech had increased as a result of the introduction of satellite communication, and that this was in spite of a harsher government policy towards freedom of speech.

Ownership of satellite reception equipment, computers and mobile phones are still limited to under 2 percent of the population, but the availability of that "second opinion" has made changes in the way domestic broadcasting presents news as well. All of the organisations contacted in this study were present on the World Wide Web, many of them with bilingual sites.

It was not found that satellite communication had any significant effect upon freedom of the press, which still is heavily controlled by the government.

This is not to say that government criticism does not appear in the newspapers, but rather that the situation for Egyptian publishers and journalists has become worse than it already was in the last ten years.


Introduction

Government ownership of the media and control over information has been the rule rather than the exception in the modern history of Egypt. Though a number of sectors have been privatised in recent years, the Egyptian media industry remains largely under government control.

This control includes licensing of journalists, licensing of newspapers, censorship bureaus and economic controls. Economic controls can take the form of taxing and subsidies (or the lack thereof).

The print media have generally been the easier media to monitor, as the publications must be physically present in Egypt to cause controversy.

Until satellite communication developed beyond telecommunications in the 1980's, radio and television remained government monopolies. Though radio had transnational properties enabling listeners to tune into channels such as VOA and BBC, no domestic non-government licenses were issued. TV was not a problem, since its small broadcasting range prohibited foreign channels to enter the country. So, while watching the papers entering the country, and monitoring the domestic publications, business could proceed much as usual in the Egyptian media sector.

Proceed, that is, until satellite broadcasting entered the country following CNN's coverage of the Gulf War in 1991. This year proved to be a turning year for the Egyptian media. International channels were for the first time allowed to broadcast in Egypt. Though operating in agreement with the government, the foreign satellite channels do not need to be physically based in Egypt. The global and immediacy of satellite television (such as CNN) and satellite telecommunication makes it much harder to control. The global nature of satellites limits individual governments' ability to control domestic usage of these technologies. This realisation has made European governments deregulate their broadcasting policies, and indeed made Egypt liberalise its telecommunications sector.

Governments have found themselves unable to cover the cost of domestic and geostationary infrastructure, and have chosen to let private investors enter the market. Some societies regard pluralism a matter of public interest, but this has not been a prevalent view in the Middle East. The media has traditionally been seen as an educational tool, where many voices would confuse and divide rather than congregate. This view is in a process of change, as the new media forces the Egyptian government to revise its policies.


TOP