US embassy cable - 05CAIRO6989

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 CAIRO 006989 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/PD FOR FRANK FINVER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, KPAO, KMDR, OPRC, EG, Media 
SUBJECT:  AS PROMISED, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MEDIA 
COVERAGE MORE OPEN AND BALANCED 
 
REF:  A.  CAIRO 6508 
      B.  CAIRO 6654 
 
1.  Summary:  Media coverage for Egypt's September 7 
presidential election campaign largely lived up to Minister 
of Information Anas El Fekki's promise to be more open and 
balanced.  While print and television  the latter, without 
a doubt, the most influential medium in Egypt  covered all 
candidates, the bulk of press and TV coverage focused on 
President Mubarak.  With half of the Egyptian population 
illiterate, newspaper photos and TV coverage had a greater 
impact than print stories in determining how the majority 
of Egyptians viewed the presidential campaign.  PA contacts 
remarked that competition from pan-Arab satellite channels 
and Minister El Fekki's promise helped to ensure better TV 
coverage than in years past.  Nonetheless, contacts also 
pointed to the lack of candidate debates on Egyptian TV 
(ETV) as evidence that media coverage still has room to 
improve.  End summary. 
 
2.  Minister of Information (and President Mubarak's media 
advisor) Anas El Fekki promised fair and balanced media 
coverage for all candidates during Egypt's presidential 
electoral campaign.  Most pro-government print and all ETV 
leading coverage focused on the beginning of a "new, 
democratic process" in Egypt.  Newspaper and magazine 
photos and TV images undoubtedly played a large role in 
shaping the Egyptian public's perception of the 
presidential campaign, given Egypt's 50 percent illiteracy 
rate.  On balance, Mubarak was covered with larger photos 
in lead articles and his image appeared on the front page 
of pro-government publications more than other candidates. 
 
3.  Pro-government daily Al-Akhbar (circulation: 800,000) 
was the most balanced pro-government publication.  Its 
editorial page repeatedly encouraged the public to vote and 
printed all the candidates' photos and their ballot symbols 
on September 7, in order to help citizens vote.  While pro- 
government media coverage was more balanced than ever and 
the independent and opposition press were allowed to 
publish freely, the pro-government media that dominates 
Egypt's airwaves and newsstands still devoted the majority 
of its coverage to President Mubarak.  While leading pro- 
government daily Al-Ahram (circulation: 750,000) used its 
feature pages throughout the campaign to quote pro-Mubarak 
"experts" who often refuted opposition candidates' opinions 
and promises, the newspaper did interview and profile Ayman 
Nour's wife in its August 20 edition. 
 
4.  ETV coverage focused on campaign rallies, candidate 
statements, and the beginning of a new democratic "era," 
while talk shows hosted guests who emphasized the openness 
and fairness of the democratic process in Egypt.  ETV 
coverage largely avoided controversial topics and 
discussions of candidates' platforms.   Mubarak granted an 
hour-long ETV interview on September 4 that largely avoided 
confrontational questions, although Mubarak was asked to 
justify Egypt's Emergency Law, with Mubarak claiming that 
it was "an instrument to combat terrorism" in Egypt.  Al- 
Wafd party candidate Noaman Gomaa appeared on the popular 
ETV program Al-Bayt Baytak ("Make Yourself at Home") on 
August 21 praising elections as "a good experience" for 
Egyptians (ref A).  Al-Wafd ran TV commercials for Gomaa's 
candidacy on ETV, with the party's slogan "We've had 
enough!" included.  However, limited financial resources 
prevented most candidates from airing ads.  Several PA 
contacts commented that the competition from pan-Arab 
satellite TV and Minister El Fekki's promise helped to 
ensure that ETV coverage was more open than ever before. 
 
5.  What government-controlled ETV might have lacked, pan- 
Arab satellite channels Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera tried to 
provide.  Al-Jazeera (which according to some polls, has 
around 40 percent of Egyptian TV viewership) devoted much 
of its coverage to the judiciary's attempts to monitor the 
elections and the debate over international monitoring. 
Al-Jazeera interviewed and profiled Ayman Nour on September 
3.  During the interview, Nour criticized the large amounts 
of money he claimed Mubarak had spent on his campaign and 
pointed to his own experience in parliamentary elections as 
making him qualified to be president. 
 
6.  In contrast to the more balanced coverage in most pro- 
government publications, leading opposition newspapers Al- 
Wafd and Al-Ghad devoted coverage to only its parties' 
candidates  Noaman Gomaa and Ayman Nour, respectively. 
Independent dailies Nahdet Masr (circulation: 50,000) and 
Al-Masry Al-Youm (circulation: 50,000) continued to 
distinguish themselves for fair and balanced coverage 
throughout the campaign, with one Egyptian NGO that 
analyzed media coverage characterizing the papers' coverage 
as "unprecedented" (ref B). 
 
7.  Established weblogs such as "The Arabist" (Arabist.net) 
and "Big Pharaoh" (bigpharaoh.blogspot.com), which have 
always been critical of Mubarak's government, continued 
their criticism, highlighting opposition protest rallies 
and an alleged NDP attempt to censor a Ayman Nour campaign 
ad.  (Note:  Almost all websites and weblogs devoted to 
commentary on Egypt are critical of Mubarak and his 
government.  End note.)  Popular news websites such as 
Masrawy (www.masrawy.com) and Good News 4 Me 
(www.gn4me.com) presented mostly matter-of-fact reporting, 
with most coverage devoted to the debate over international 
monitoring, the judges' attempt to monitor elections, and 
the various candidates' platforms. 
 
8.  A PA contact offered the following perspective on 
Egyptian media coverage of the campaign:  "It has been a 
mirror of the democratic process itself in Egypt  a 
positive step forward, but there is still a long way to 
go."  Coverage was compared by another PA contact to "soup 
without spice," noting that while there was some substance 
to the coverage, without debates and candidates' "mud 
slinging," there was little that could hold the public's 
attention.  The lack of candidate debates and the reported 
ETV ban on candidates criticizing one another resulted in 
fewer 'fireworks' than might appear in an American or 
European electoral campaign.  However, the Egyptian media 
exposed the public to new faces and a new democratic 
process.  Nonetheless, with Egypt's illiteracy rate at 50 
percent and much of the public at the mercy of ETV for 
information, much work remains to be done for Egypt to have 
a media establishment than can credibly cover an election 
campaign. 
 
RICCIARDONE