Talk show hosts criticize Sisi for attacking media

Many expected talk show hosts to change their attitude and praise Sisi after he criticized the media for the way it covers issues. But what happened instead was that Ibrahim Eissa, Rola Kharsa, Lamis al-Hadidi and Youssef al-Husseini criticized the president in their turn.

 

“The president should be larger than commenting on specific things said in TV programs,” said Youssef al-Husseini of ONTV. “He may comment on the media performance as a whole. And maybe he should meet with the media to discuss this issue.”

 

He said the president did not comment on leaks and scandals shown in the media. “Perhaps he does not mind this,” Husseini said.

 

Ibrahim Eissa of the TV channel Al-Kahera Wal Nas said the state should have its own media which speaks on its behalf, but without prejudice. “It is obvious the state does not want a media that poses questions,” he said.

 

Rola Kharsa of the LTC channel wondered why the media is always blamed whenever there is a problem. “Do they want us to go back to the 1960s when the media was dictated what to say?” she said. “Times have changed, gentlemen.”

 

Lamis al-Hadidi of the CBC channel contended that not all media personnel are bad. “Many of them are neutral and professional,” she said.

 

She requested the activation of the draft law regulating the work of the media, which for all intents and purposes has effectively been forgotten in a drawer in the Cabinet. “We need a code of ethics,” she said. “And we are willing to pay fines if we derail from it.”

 

But Khaled Abu Bakr of the “Cairo Today” program praised the president’s speech before the Armed Forces on the anniversary of the October War. “It did touch the hearts of the Egyptians in the street,” he said. “He knows very well the risks that Egypt is facing. And he revealed them to us.”

 

And Ahmed Moussa of the Sada Al-Balad channel said this was the first time the president has spoken sharply and directly to the media, without mincing words.

 

“The real risk is conveying the wrong picture to the public,” he said.