Mass media in Egypt

The printing press was first introduced to Egypt by Napoleon Bonaparte during his French Campaign in Egypt and Syria.{{cite book|last=Cole|first=Juan|title=Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East ==The press==

, March 1961 The written press is very diverse in Egypt, with over 600 newspapers, journals, and magazines. However these are owned mostly or in some way by the government, the opposition or other political parties. However, unlike many of Egypt's regional counterparts, criticism of the government in general does take place, Over the past two decades, Al-Azhar University censored more than 196 texts. In the late 1800s/early 1900s Egypt had journals in both Arabic and French. In much of the 1800s Alexandria served as the centre of Egyptian journalism. Circa the mid-to-late 1800s many famous literary journals were established in Alexandria, but moved to Cairo by the 1890s. By the late 1800s the makeup of Alexandria-based publications increasingly focused on culture while publications focused on political matters moved to Cairo. For Nawal, this was an opportunity to write for and about women and to defend their right's, express her views and discuss their duties. Editions of the journal were published continually for two years, after which she stopped publications. Examples of other significant periodicals include Muslim women's journal ''Tarqiyat al-Mar'a which'' was first published in 1908, which fought for women's rights which had already been granted by Islam and argued against the mixing of genders and for veiling. In the same year, Malaka Sa-d first published al-jins al-lateef, a Coptic journal dedicated to the issues Coptic women faced, it published a diverse set of female editors. Although originally influenced by western European and Turkish women's press, these journals evolved throughout the years. Women did not feature on the cover until the 1920s, with drawings previously being preferred due to conventions on veiling. During this time, men started writing women's periodicals too as it became an accepted literary genre, these often came in a tabloid form. ==Television==

There are two state broadcasters and an increasing number of private broadcasters. Figures from the CIA World Factbook state more than 98 television channels in 1995, and 57 AM and 14 FM radio channels in 1999. The Ministry of Information controls content in the state-owned broadcast media. Egypt was the first Arab nation to have its own satellite, Nilesat 101, which allows the Egyptian TV and film industry to supply much of the Arab-speaking world with shows from its Media Production City. The previously tight controls on state TV and radio gave way to even and fair coverage of all political parties involved in the Egyptian presidential election of 2005, a first for Egyptian media. However, in 2006 several journalists working for the Cairo branch of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera were detained for investigating subjects such as police brutality and "harming the country's reputation". ==Radio==

Egyptian radio broadcasting (as in both FM and AM bands) began to serve in Egypt in the 1920s as locally owned radios. They began airing radio as The Egyptian State Radio on the 31 May 1934 in an agreement with the Marconi Company. In 1947 the contract with the Marconi Company was canceled and radio broadcasting was nationalized by the Egyptian government. By the early 1990s, Egypt had only four FM stations, but the number increased to six by the end of the decade. In 2000 stations moving from the AM band and the introduction of private stations raised the number to ten stations as of 2006. Radio as a Political Tool Radio has also historically been utilized as a political tool in Egypt beginning under the rule of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.(10) Nasser became president of Egypt in 1954 and served until his death in 1970.(10) When Nasser came to power he realized that radio could be utilized as a powerful political tool for two reasons. First, the illiteracy rate in Egypt has been traditionally high.(11) Using radio to spread political ideas, therefore, allowed a greater number of the population to hear his political ideas. Many Egyptians, both literate and illiterate, also enjoyed listening to radio, so this provided an alternative means to propagate his ideologies other than print media.(11) Second, he had the power to expand the radio to all parts of Egypt allowing for the dissemination of his political messages throughout Egypt.(11) The main program Nasser utilized to voice his politics was the Voice of the Arabs.(10) This program was started on July 4, 1953 and was directed by Ahmed Said.(10) Said was also the chief announcer of the program and had a close relationship with Nasser and his administration. Nasser's political goals for Egypt were seen as strongly revolutionary and adopted positions such as anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist, and anti-Zionist.(10) These positions were highly supported and strongly voiced on the Voice of the Arabs in the mid- to late 1950s.(10) This revolutionary propaganda influenced two significant events in Arab countries in the 1950s. The first was when the Voice of the Arabs began a series of broadcasts in 1955 that called for Jordanian citizens to campaign against their countries involvement in Baghdad Pact and against their governments close involvement with Britain.(10) This resulted in the dismissal of General John Bagot Glubb, a veteran soldier and Arabist who had been in Jordan over 25 years, as a commander of Jordanian forces.(10) Although the broadcasts cannot be proven fully as the reason for his dismissal, it is strongly believed that the demonstrations that resulted from the broadcasts influenced the Jordanian presidents decision.(10) The second was broadcasts from 1955 to 1958; which promoted revolution in Iraq.(10) At this time period Iraq had joined the Baghdad Pact, and Nasser saw this as Britain attempting to westernize the Arab world.(10) Due to this the Voice of the Arabs broadcasts were calling on for a revolution by the Iraqi citizens against the royal family and Prime Minister Nuri al-Said.(10) Broadcasts in 1957, in fact, called for the outright assassination of es-Said and the royal family.(10) In 1958, a military coup overthrew the Iraqi government and es-Said and King Faisal II of Iraq were killed.(10) The Egyptian broadcasts were not the sole cause of this, but Ahmed Said did receive a letter with a piece of es-Said's finger inside that thanked him for the support.(10) After 1958, the role of radio as a powerful political tool declined.(10) By the 1960s radio had been around for many years in Egypt and the emergence of television created competition for the radio. Also, after 1970, radio programs such as the Voice of the Arabs reduced their broadcasting hours substantially. During this same period religious radio programs increased more than any other.(10) ==Internet==

The government has actively encouraged internet usage, quadrupling over the last few years with around 17 million regular users in 2010, around 21 percent of the population. ==Freedoms==

Freedom of expression and belief tend to be suppressed by the Egyptian media sector to favor pro-government ideology since the coup in 2013. One of the former editors of a major publication Al-Ahram was detained in 2021 for false news of President Sisi to resign. ==Regulation==

The first Arabic-language newspaper in Egypt was al-Tanbih, published by the French, and headquartered in Alexandria, around the start of the 1800s. • Abū al-Nuwās (Alexandria) - Established in 1895 by Najib Gharghur • al-Āmāl (Alexandria) - Established in 1899 by Najib Gharghur According to Kendall, it was one of two publications that, despite not lasting for a long time, had "greater literary significance". Kendall cited the copious letters sent to al-Nadim asking him to keep publishing the newspaper, after al-Nadim announced that he planned to end it, as proof of it having significant popularity. al-Nadim used vernacular Egyptian Arabic to write episodes and sketches in the publication and initially employed simple language as a way of spreading ideas to ordinary citizens, • Ḥadīqat al-Adab (Alexandria) was established in 1888, • ''Isis. Revue française d'Égypte'' • ''L'Égypte contemporaine'' • Artemis, first women's literary magazine, published by Marie Beylerian from January 1902 to December 1903 • Fatat al-Sharq, by Labiba Hasham, founded 1906 • al-jins al-lateef, by Malaka Sa-d, 1908-1925 • Bint Al-Nil, published from 1945-1957 by Doria Shafik ==See also==