Nine years ago, Mahmoud, a reporter from Qalyubia, wrote a story that uncovered unfavorable facts about Mostorod Chemical Trading in an independent newspaper affiliated with an opposition group. The campaign raised huge public reactions and parliamentary discussions, which angered the Qalyubia governor who decided to prohibit Mahmoud from entering the governorate buildings, denied him access to information and fired him from the Qalyubia newspaper, whose director is the governor himself.

Nine years ago, Mahmoud, a reporter from Qalyubia, wrote a story that uncovered unfavorable facts about Mostorod Chemical Trading in an independent newspaper affiliated with an opposition group. The campaign raised huge public reactions and parliamentary discussions, which angered the Qalyubia governor who decided to prohibit Mahmoud from entering the governorate buildings, denied him access to information and fired him from the Qalyubia newspaper, whose director is the governor himself.

Like other reporters lacking offices of their own, Mahmoud used to work from the headquarters of the governorate newspaper to send press materials to his newspaper which is located far away.

Governmental agencies in most governorates, especially Western Delta, Menoufia and Dakahlia, take advantage of the fact that independent newspapers do not have offices of their own. So, they provide reporters with office facilities under the pretext that they’re helping them, but in fact, their primary objective is to control them using the carrot and the stick approach.

The stick

Before the era of email, editorial headquarters were more important because they had a fax that received news from several sources in the governorate, including the departments of security, health and agriculture, in addition to the general Diwan and government offices in bigger cities and towns. The reporters would edit the information and turn it into news stories, then re-send it via the same fax machine to all newspapers in the capital.

Denying access to reporters was a real “declaration of war” against them because they had to go to several sources on a daily basis to get news, edit it on the streets or in their homes, and then search for a fax machine to send it to their newspapers. This drains the reporter financially and physically because of the long hours spent moving between different departments.

Mahmoud learned that the reporter is a reporter for every possible topic in the governorate because reporters can only be specialized in specific themes in large governorates such as Alexandria. He was forced to cover accidents, arts, sports, health, courts, and prepare investigations, reports and interviews within his governorate, and obtain pictures and follow newspaper distribution outlets – all without an office.

When the government started sending emails instead of using fax machines, newspaper headquarters became less important. However, they are still the best place to share information and benefit from such services as free equipment, communications and buffet.

The governorate relies on the fact that reporters need such a facility to practice their profession to pressure them and control what they write. Access to the newspaper’s headquarters is subject to government approval, where journalists are expected to praise senior executives and not publish negative news.

Monopoly of information

Government authorities not only prevent reporters from a well-equipped office, but also monopolize information and news and deny access to them.

Last year, the security department in Fayoum refused to share news and results of the police reports to Ahmad, a reporter in Fayoum, because he had revealed the violations of some officers in an independent pro-regime newspaper. The media office administrator refused to talk to Ahmed, although he was a regular reporter in the department and had the right to obtain news, ask questions, and attend conferences and events hosted by the department.

Strangely enough, the department warned all reporters not to cooperate with Ahmad. Most of them responded, but some continued to help him secretly for different motives. Ahmad is waiting for the head of security to be changed. He gets around the information blockage by getting it from other sources.

Tamer, an Alexandria correspondent, has more than one email and fax at government agencies in the governorate after the authorities prevented newspapers from dealing with him due to a similar case. He works with the prosecution, ambulances and medical sources to get news and information on police reports and road accidents.

The same happened to Mahmoud, a Qena correspondent, who was denied information because he works for a pro-opposition newspaper and also after his colleagues slandered to keep him from working.

Government agencies do not punish the publishing of bad news and revealing corruption and negligence, but also when reporters do not praise senior officials and publish their photos.

The carrot

Helmi, a journalist in Sharqia, was prohibited in 2014 from entering the newspaper headquarters because he had published public views criticizing the governor. For a month, he had to use deception to get official news and information with the help of some colleagues. He was also reproached by his boss because of the decrease in the number of articles sent to the newspaper, and had financial burdens because he was always moving, working from cafes and communicating with sources, which has reduced his already low income.

Helmi learned the lesson. He mediated to return to the headquarters promising not to publish bad news again. After a while, he signed a contract with the administration of the newspaper for 1000 pounds a month, and then he was appointed as the head of a media center in the Ministry of Culture.

Government agencies take advantage of the low salaries and lack of a working space to control reporters and monitor what they write.

Government agencies also use the laws and regulations to deny information and news to some reporters, and sometimes threaten to report them to the managers in Cairo. This pushes reporters to accept corrupt practices and small privileges which are supposed to be their rights provided by the newspaper.

Sometimes, reporters will take part in corruption practices— those in national newspapers who enjoy well-equipped offices and other perks may support the authorities in pursuit of more power and illegal funds.

Still, there are tens of independent reports who refuse government privileges and are willing to give up their access to editorial headquarters. These reporters deal with the government and the officials as a second source. They use alternative sources to obtain their information and they deal with these sources perfectly, which forces the government and the rest of the reporters to deal with an event that they have ignored or decided not to publish.