During a deposition, a businessman and MP in the current parliament in Dakahlia revealed that he was blackmailed by journalists in Qaliubiya province. In the presence of a judge, senior journalists, police officers and a number of the province’s elders, the MP played a recorded conversation of the attempted blackmail to publish his advertisements in the newspaper.

The local newspaper where the accused journalists work launched a five-week campaign in 2012 to uncover the corruption of a businessman from the dissolved National Democratic Party after the January 25 revolution.

During a deposition, a businessman and MP in the current parliament in Dakahlia revealed that he was blackmailed by journalists in Qaliubiya province. In the presence of a judge, senior journalists, police officers and a number of the province’s elders, the MP played a recorded conversation of the attempted blackmail to publish his advertisements in the newspaper.

The local newspaper where the accused journalists work launched a five-week campaign in 2012 to uncover the corruption of a businessman from the dissolved National Democratic Party after the January 25 revolution.

Three weeks after the campaign’s launch, the businessman was allegedly asked to buy advertisements and provide financial support to the newspaper, in exchange for halting the campaign and clearing his name through articles and interviews – he refused.

The MP recorded the phone call with the editor-in-chief and submitted it to the police. Strangely, the businessman, who also owns an educational institution and has been an MP for more than five parliamentary terms, implicitly admitted his corruption, but there was no evidence against him.

Given the low salaries of Cairo newspaper and website reporters and other issues, corruption in local newspapers has become pervasive, while security and legal restrictions are imposed only on other newspapers.

Methods of blackmail

A local newspaper may, without professional reasons, launch a campaign against a government official, businessman or a candidate for local or parliamentary elections accusing him of corruption or immorality. Such a newspaper might fabricate stories made by citizens or opponents to defame the victims without giving the accused a chance to defend themselves. The newspaper may even increase the distribution of the newspaper in the vicinity of the victims’ neighbourhood, workplace or hometown or extend the campaign to force them to accept the bribe.

A few months ago, a local newspaper with a foreign franchise in Zagazig launched a campaign against a well-known pro-regime businessman, accusing him of corruption by seizing agricultural land to be sold as construction plots. The newspaper also accused him of immorality, which affected his reputation in his conservative community. Regardless of the validity of the accusations, the man received a copy of the newspaper from his driver – his wife found it at her workplace – and copies were distributed near his residence.

Suspecting that the campaign was backed by his opponents to get rid of him, the businessman gave in. The following issue of the newspaper published a front page apology for the businessman, including a two-page interview with him and an advertisement on the last page.

The majority of these newspapers have either a foreign license or no license at all. To avoid confiscation, they need local authorities’ protection, especially security, which often have an interest in defaming certain figures.

During election times, several professions prosper, including advertising, printing and event organization, in addition to yellow journalism, which uses tactics to discredit the opponents of the candidates they support.

Such support is obviously not based on political or electoral platforms but rather on financial reasons and public relations. Therefore, most weekly newspapers start publishing daily issues before the elections, to be distributed free of charge. Sometimes they increase the distribution rate to ensure access to voters. Some newspapers appear just before the elections to support certain candidates and act as ad-hoc publications rather than regular channels addressing the people’s concerns.

Forced labor reporters

Notorious local newspapers might use various illegal means to get financial support and survive and they are supported by on-demand corruption networks. The public, however, cannot differentiate between real journalism and extortion. Unlike editors-in-chief, newspaper reporters usually do not get paid. They are tricked into believing that the newspaper is concerned with upholding the rights of citizens and accountability of politicians and that exposing corruption would be admirable acts of journalism.

An editor-in-chief in Mansoura allegedly extorted a large some of money from an eighteen-year-old girl claiming that he would help her realize her dream of becoming a journalist. The issue was resolved by marrying her, after the intervention of her parents. This same person obtained money from reporters and made them write unpaid material for two years in exchange for getting the title of a journalist from the Printing and Publishing Union.