“Going native” is the blight of any foreign correspondent reporting to his Western media outlet from a “foreign land”. And yet “non-native” foreign coverage rarely provides the kind of complex and nuanced understanding of the highly complex and (...)
I was lectured over a year ago by a Western expert on how this was the "Islamist moment." The basic argument was that I, as an opponent critical of Islamist rule, was in fact a minority amongst Egyptians incapable of appreciating the cultural (...)
"We need safety gear. Every time the reporters go out on the street they wind up getting hurt. We are telling the women reporters to get off the street by 11pm, but the guys are out till 4am. Should we buy the safety gear?"
The words came in a (...)
I am in Dubai. At the Atlantis Hotel, to be precise, where top Arab media professionals are meeting over aquamarine and orange carpets, under sea-shell motif chandeliers at the invitation of the Dubai Press Club. The occasiona is the Ninth Arab (...)
What choices does the average Egyptian citizen actually have? To have children? To send those kids to a decent public school? To use decent public transport? To utilize the public health system? Information, accountability and governance aside, what (...)
A young girl and her mother walk from their shanty district in Cairo along a main road. The girl carries a heavy back-pack full of schoolbooks. Her hair is pulled tightly back in a long braid. Her mother is obliterated by a black burqa. The girl (...)
Mainstream press led with news of yesterday's cabinet and governorate reshuffle, which saw the appointment of two new ministers and five new governors. Al-Dostour wrote that Alaa Fahmy, former National Post Authority head and recently appointed (...)
State-owned newspapers ran with the obvious: President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the Supreme Court Council on the occasion of the court's 25th anniversary. Banner headlines reminded us of the importance of the judiciary: In Al-Ahram: "Egypt's (...)
Science is an engine of progress. Perhaps more importantly critical thinking, skepticism and a culture of research and contemplation are the engines of civilization. And so when Hazem Zohny in Science and faith among Egyptians: Compatible? finds (...)
We are all united. Egypt's loss to Algeria in the World Cup qualifying match last week precipitated that rare state of affairs when government, opposition and people come together, caught up in whirlwind of national indignation and against a common (...)
As Al-Masry Al Youm English Edition on the web moves into Phase II of its development I am happy to draw readers' attention to a number of significant new features.
Before I do, however, let me recap some background, especially for the benefit of (...)
On referendum day the opposition despite its numerical minority, was highly vocal and visible in its denunciation of the constitutional amendments, reports Fatemah Farag
In the weeks leading up to this week's referendum on constitutional reform, the (...)
Falling behind the packs of tourists on tight itineraries, Fatemah Farag re-discovers Luxor
Luxor may be home to some of the world's most amazing archaeological sites, and yet it is an undervalued city. Hordes of tourists are run in and out of Luxor (...)
Fatemah Farag considers the long shadow cast by the 1977 uprising
Um Mohamed knows nothing about the 1977 uprising. She does know that it is becoming increasingly difficult to feed her family. She contemplates some chicken claws piled on a tray on (...)
How can more constructive Euro-Med relations be fostered? Fatemah Farag listens for answers
Since the Barcelona Process was initiated in 1995, the relationship that has bound Egypt to the European Union (EU) has been known as the European (...)
THE UPROAR occasioned by Trade Union elections is coming to naught, writes Fatemah Farag, despite the estimated 800 petitions presented to courts by would-be candidates who claim the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) prevented their (...)
Labour, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Left and the State; the mix could be explosive, reports Fatemah Farag
"The Muslim Brotherhood is contending these elections openly, and under their own banner, for the first time; economic and social pressures are (...)
A new year, a new government; but how much has really changed? Fatemah Farag takes a guess
"People had been awaiting change long overdue. They said perhaps the government and its party have understood the message made by the last [parliamentary] (...)
While privately-owned newspapers flourished in 2005, the state-affiliated print media gave in to retrenchment. Fatemah Farag reviews a year in the press
Peruse the local newsstands and your options are staggering. State-affiliated papers vie for (...)
It is the Brotherhood again and again, writes Fatemah Farag
Some people are just livid with anger. Such as Abdallah Kamal in Rose El-Youssef magazine who this week published a picture taken last week of a new Muslim Brotherhood MP bending over its (...)
The Arab media on Arab social issues: Fatemah Farag, in Beirut, tackles a difficult conjunction
Commissioned by the British Council and undertaken by ACNielson, a new study has thrown unexpected light on one of the least discussed sides of the vexed (...)
With the electoral war over, writers ruminate over the spoils, writes Fatemah Farag
While Al-Masri Al-Yom 's banner on 7 December announced a "ceasefire" indicating the end of what everyone has described as the bloodiest parliamentary elections in (...)
They need them but do they really want them? Last week, Fatemah Farag investigated the vexed issue of Egyptian migratory labour
"Europe," mused Attia, a vocational institute graduate in his mid 20s. "That would be wonderful: clean streets, euros and (...)
The secular opposition is the biggest casualty of the parliamentary elections, writes Fatemah Farag
The losses have been staggering: all the leading figures of the left-leaning Tagammu Party lost their seats, including political veteran and former (...)
Fatemah Farag reviews chronicles of distress
The headlines ran something like this: "The conspiracy of the ruling party against political reform" Al-Ahali ; "Parliament of blood" Al-Ghad ; "Who is bleeding more?" Al-Masry Al-Yom ; "May democracy (...)