US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4756

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 004756 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR, OPRC, SCUL, KPAO, EG 
SUBJECT:  EGYPTIAN E-JOURNALISM - TWO WEBSITES IN VANGUARD, 
BUT HOW VIABLE? 
 
 
1.  Summary:  Two Egyptian websites - Masrawy.com and 
ArabAmbassador.org  are striving to establish themselves 
as credible Egyptian Internet news sources.  Masrawy styles 
itself as a reliable source for general news, while Arab 
Ambassador aims to serve as a "bridge" between the Arab and 
western worlds by publishing regional news and point of 
views.  However, both outlets are confined by their 
finances -- a Masrawy editor claimed that the website does 
not have the budget to do its own reporting, cobbling 
together content from international wire services; while 
Arab Ambassador is funded largely out of its Editor-in- 
chief's own pocket.  Whether Internet news websites can 
effectively compete with Egypt's traditional print media 
depends largely on websites' ability to raise revenue to 
fund news reporting and continued operations.  End summary. 
 
2.  The design and content of Masrawy (www.masrawy.com) 
appears similar to popular Internet news content providers 
Yahoo.com and Google News.  (Note:  Masrawy is part of the 
Cairo-based LINKdotNET Internet company, which also 
controls the popular website MSNArabia.com.  End note.) 
Masrawy, which is updated regularly by a team of content 
editors who work 24/7, is strongest in its international 
and Egyptian news sections, reporting on the activities and 
statements of Egyptian government officials and opposition 
and Islamist leaders.  Masrawy has consistently reported on 
student and Kifaya demonstrations after they occur 
(sometimes reporting on planned demonstrations beforehand), 
arrests of Muslim Brotherhood members, and Egypt's human 
rights situation during the past several months. 
 
3.  PA officer with met with Masrawy's economic news 
content editor, Sameh Awadallah, on June 13, who explained 
the website's staffing and editorial process.  "We have 
several content departments  one for news, one for 
finance, one for sports, etc.," Awadallah reported.  "We 
take news from various online news services, like AP or 
Reuters, and put it together in reports."  While much of 
Masrawy's staff has studied journalism and writes for other 
Egyptian newspapers, the website does not have the 
resources for original reporting.  When asked if Masrawy 
pays for the content it takes from wire services, Awadallah 
said, "No.  We just take it from the Internet and publish 
it sometimes under Masrawy's name and sometimes under the 
wire service's name.  We don't have the budget to do our 
own news reporting or pay for wire services." 
 
4.  Arab Ambassador is published online weekly in Arabic, 
Hebrew, and English at www.arabambassador.org.  Whereas 
Masrawy reads like a news wire service's website, Arab 
Ambassador's website reads more like a newspaper.  The 
publication's Editor-in-chief, Ashraf Gaber, told PA 
officer on June 1 that he funds the website with his own 
money, staffing it with editors and translators who are 
mostly in their 20s with journalism studies background. 
Like Masrawy, Arab Ambassador compiles reports from 
information gathered from other sources.  However, Arab 
Ambassador's staff does conduct interviews, produces some 
original reporting, and writes regular commentaries. 
 
5.  Gaber explained that Arab Ambassador began as a monthly 
print publication to 5,000 subscribers - mostly Arabs 
living overseas in the U.S., the UK, and Australia.  Gaber 
decided to post the newspaper online to reach a larger 
audience.  "My mission is for the newspaper to be a bridge 
between the Middle East and the West by expressing Arab 
points of view and letting the world know how Arabs think," 
Gaber explained.  (Note:  Gaber, an advocate for the blind, 
also publishes a print edition of Arab Ambassador in 
Braille at his own expense.  End note) 
 
6.  When asked about advertising, Gaber stated, "It's hard 
to find advertisers in Egypt.  I do what many newspapers 
and websites do, which is publish free advertising for 
companies to try to encourage them.  I hope that when they 
see I can do a good job for them, they will pay.  So far 
though, no one's paying."  Without using his own funds, 
Gaber claimed his newspaper and website would fail.  "You 
need lots money and connections to have a successful 
website in Egypt.  Sure, you can do a website on the cheap, 
but then the quality is bad and people won't read it. 
There's just no money for the Internet in Egypt right now," 
Gaber complained. 
 
7.  Comment:  Although Egyptian news websites are becoming 
known among Egyptian reporters and Internet users as a 
credible source of information  largely because they 
translate into Arabic accurate Western reporting - these 
websites face serious financial challenges to becoming 
viable competition to Egypt's traditional print media. 
However, with Egyptian Internet users currently estimated 
by the Ministry of Telecommunications at over four million 
and growing, the possibility for a vibrant and successful 
online news community rivaling print and TV media in Egypt 
exists.  End comment. 
 
GRAY