Khaled al-Balshi served as editor-in-chief of the controversial yet distinguished Al-Badeel newspaper before it was closed in 2009 (succeeding researcher and writer Mohammad Sayed Said in 2008), when only very few private journalism platforms existed and the government used various tricks and complicated deals to close media platforms that did not fall under its control. Recently, Al-Balshi was elected as a member of the Egyptian Press Syndicate.
Khaled al-Balshi served as editor-in-chief of the controversial yet distinguished Al-Badeel newspaper before it was closed in 2009 (succeeding researcher and writer Mohammad Sayed Said in 2008), when only very few private journalism platforms existed and the government used various tricks and complicated deals to close media platforms that did not fall under its control. Recently, Al-Balshi was elected as a member of the Egyptian Press Syndicate. Before and after his election, he created many courageous press platforms, but government pressure was exerted on all of them and al-Bashi ended up being excluded from these platforms and in many cases several of them were suspended.
Khaled al-Sbalshi, let us first talk about Al-Badeel. In its initial phase, it was an attempt to create a different kind of daily press. What can you tell us about that experience?
It was a crazy, youthful experience and it came when the state was getting old, aging and reaching its end. Young people, with all their ambitions and rebellious feelings, wanted to speak about all existing problems and issues affecting their lives. The newspaper was surprising its audience even in its layout. For example, its first page, unlike other daily newspapers, was dedicated to one topic at a time. This experience clashed with the aging state, which was administrating its affairs according to a certain set of rules, all issues related to journalism were handled according to these rules.
Al-Badeel worked independently of these rules. In short, this small group of Egyptian journalists was trying to introduce journalism as a profession which delves into thorny issues, starting with the issue of the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, at that time, the interior ministry and reaching down to the intelligence service. It delved into almost everything to present its own view on the role of journalism.
What were the reasons behind its closure?
On March 22, 2009, the general assembly issued a decision to increase the capital of al-Taqadum Journalism, the company which is licensed to publish al-Badeel daily newspaper, to 20 million Egyptian pounds. On April 7, another decision was taken to close it because of the presence of a financial crisis. (He kept silent for a while and then said). I will not comment on this.
Do you have any explanation for this? Do you at least have a new interpretation of what happened?
I was aware, at that time, that there were pressures exerted on the newspaper, especially because I know that there were a number of businessmen who had paid huge amounts of money to create something unique. It seems that the issue was not only related to losing the money they had paid but that their own private businesses were threatened. I can understand the presence of all these pressures.
After the revolution, I received the al-Badeel file, which was gathered by the state security apparatus (when the revolutionaries stormed the security headquarters, the strongest in Mubarak’s state), and I found a pledge signed by one of the board’s members. In his pledge, he assured the security apparatus that the newspaper would not be published again. Today, I see that this experience opened many fronts for clashes, all at the same time, without abiding by the rules or any other considerations. I still believe that this was right because engaging in special deals does not reflect journalism the way I understand it.
Did you encounter difficulties when you first created al-Badeel?
For creating sites, there are no difficulties. Unlike printed newspapers, you just create your site and start publishing. One of the main tools of the journalism industry is money and I frankly didn’t have the financial means to have it printed. In addition to this, ownership of newspapers in Egypt is governed by certain laws and rules. One can only print through advertising companies or government-owned printing houses and these may control the printing and distribution time. It is not an explicit censorship, but these printing houses may delay the publishing of the newspaper and its distribution and they may pressure distributors and thus the newspaper might disappear from the market.
There are several experiments trying to introduce press independent of governmental control. Do you believe there is an independent media?
There is no such thing as an independent press. There is private press, which is under the control of the state. We cannot deny that Egypt is a strong and dominant country and the biggest project is to dismantle state hegemony. There are other means of control through interests or by giving licenses to special persons. There is also the other means of control, which I have mentioned earlier and that is by controlling printing and distribution houses. The journalism market in Egypt is very well controlled and the solution lies in establishing new forms of ownership.
Under such a very well dominated scene, where should one start?
I started a new project and it suffered from my limited abilities. It was a cry and an attempt to express a different opinion, but after all, it was only a personal effort. Perhaps the electronic media is better because it allows people to have their own press, in the way they want, but with little means. In Egypt we need new patterns of newspaper ownership. The current control, especially over printing and distribution, should be dismantled by allowing small businessmen to enter into this industry or by creating new printing shops. Another possible way is that a big group gathers together and creates a newspaper.
According to the syndicate, the journalist is the person who works in a printed publication. Will this change?
The journalist syndicate law does not allow journalists who work for electronic sites to become members. This is a human right and the syndicate should include these journalists. However, there are new established economic interests which do not allow this to happen.
Even more dangerous is that membership of the syndicate has become limited to those only working in printed press and this poses a danger to the profession in the future as well as to the syndicate itself. The solution is to create a new syndicate for journalists who work in electronic media because this is a profession is not represented in a syndicate. The problem is that the Constitution allows only the presence of one professional syndicate. Perhaps the syndicate will understand in the future the importance of having a united council to protect the profession because monopoly is against freedom.
Before the revolution, and since 2005, the state began to intervene in the tug of war between the traditional press and the popular press (citizen journalism/blogging). How did this affect the press in Egypt?
Blogs accomplished a great deal on the one hand by providing a new wave of independent journalism which provided more liberal voices, especially since the community at the time was disjointed. The popular press also dealt with a number of important topics such as torture and collective harassment, which liberated and benefitted traditional journalism.
Traditional journalism on the other hand also influenced the popular press by enhancing the latter’s language ways of discussing the different societal issues. By this I mean the topics handled by bloggers and the ways they used to put forward accusations and in some cases mention names. In this regard, journalists helped bloggers raise the level of professionalism.
Today, freedoms are becoming more restricted and the press is far more controlled. In your opinion, how is the state dealing with this issue?
Today, the state has a clear rhetoric. The president (al-Sissi) wants the press to return to the way it was during Nasser’s days. He is very engaged in this file and he is continuously meeting with journalists. He wants the media to have a specific expression. There are media spaces dominated by the state, but during the last four years, new spaces were created and these will continue to be active and to exert pressure against state hegemony in the long run. For this reason, I do not expect that the state will be able to dominate the media, especially as its attempts have not succeeded.
For example, in the Constitution, there are major strides towards freedom and the dismantling of domination. This creates the grounds for a new media environment such as the establishment of newspapers by notification and not by permission. This closes the door of confiscation of newspapers and the imprisonment of journalists in general, and dismantles the state’s control of official and national newspapers. The formation of boards and commissions has been stipulated in the Constitution and their laws are now being prepared. This will dismantle the tools of hegemony.
What about professionalism? Is it declining?
Professionalism is part of the crisis of politics and society, as well as the confusion characterizing the past few years. It is also part of the struggle to gain an audience by publishing light material and the best ten means for any topic to attract the highest number of visitors to the different news websites. All this has created a professionalism crisis and it is linked to the state’s attempt to dominate and to allow the prevalence of one specific pattern of journalism.
For example, the state allowed leaks by a number of activists, politicians and opponents to be broadcasted through a TV program aired by one of the private satellite stations. This pattern was meant to become prevalent during the last few months and its makers, such as the female journalist who created a diplomatic crisis between Egypt and Morocco, were protected. She left the channel, which was broadcasting her programs, but she found a work opportunity in another place. This means that there is a protection for this pattern.
The interior ministry raises some issues through the media in the same way that used to be adopted before the revolution. The tools used by the authority to dominate the media are still the same. During Mubarak’s days, there were campaigns led against yellow journalism to close professional opposition newspapers while leaving the really “yellow journalism” untouched. The same method is being now used. The authority hasn’t yet been able to fully control the society and the result has been leaks by the Egyptian state, to give journalists leaks to respond to those of the opposition. The general political environment protects this pattern, but professionals should stop themselves because of its danger on the profession of journalism.
There should be a law to the access of information and codes of conduct submitted by the different professional groups with their broad spectrums. Moreover, the ownership pattern of newspapers should be changed and state hegemony should be eased.
How was the return of al-Badeel?
Before the revolution, al-Badeel returned electronically. We started the site again in November 2010. There were negotiations with the former funders of the newspaper after the start of the revolution and there was an agreement that the year 2011 would be a distinguished one in the history of Egypt. For this reason, al-Badeel was to be presented as a weekly publication along with the site. During these negotiations, we had our own specific conditions: the return of the colleagues to their work and maintaining the editorial policy of the publication. I was offered the opportunity to become a partner but I refused and said I only wanted back the amount I paid, which was equal to 200,000 Egyptian pounds. I, as well as some other colleagues, did not ask for our wages for the 10 months of our work. However, the funders withdrew at the last minute.
At that time, I didn’t have any idea about the pledge made to the state security. All of a sudden, a new buyer appeared and he committed to maintain the editorial policy. He was convinced of the project and he was supported by those journalists who created the newspaper. He became the owner and the newspaper was supposed to be published daily for the dream to be realized and for the return of al-Badeel as it was in the past. However, there were conflicts of interests again because of the relations between the new owners with the Muslim Brotherhood and the Syrian regime. Can you imagine this! They said that they had lost deals worth millions because of the newspaper’s policy.
I left in August to allow the appointment of my old colleagues, but this did not happen. (The second issue of the newspaper was on a weekly basis, and that the first issue was published in January 2014).
Do you think this kind of journalism was troublesome and is deliberately being repressed or do you believe that you are being targeted?
While attempting to re-publish al-Badeel after the revolution, I understood there was no room in it for me. I started creating the al-Wadi newspaper in November 2013, it was a new site, different than the existing websites. When we prepared to print the first issue, we started to face problems and we printed issue number two but the third one was not published. I knew there were pressures exerted on the board and I have seen this before, more than one time, not only in the electronic al-Badeel, but also in other leftist journals. Such events are repeating themselves in the same patterns. For example, there were efforts to publish the an-Nahar newspaper, but it failed before it even started.
