Egypt Media activists plan ‘public’ TV

Group of pro-democracy media men has launched an initative to establish a new channel entitled el-Shaab Youreed or ‘What the people want’ through an Initial Public Offering (IPO). They claim that the State-run media as well as privately owned outlets do not represent the will of the people.

Belal Fadl, writer and TV presenter, together with media activists Ahmed el-Sawy and Asaad Taha held a press conference in Townhouse’s El-Rawabet theatre in downtown Cairo to unveil their initiative.

This channel will be financed by Egyptians, who will be the owners of the new channel. Every Egyptian can buy an IPO for LE10, according to the media activists.

"This initiative was born after the Egyptian people found that the official media that should express their views were failing to play t his role," Belal Fadl said during the conference.

The idea has emerged after the state media reporting, which many Egyptians found ‘shameful, of the Maspero events on October 9, in which many Copts, supported by Muslims, were involved in deadly clashes with the armed forces outside the State Radio & TV station. It was also prompted by attacks made on certain TV channels, including Elhurra and 25.

The most recent relevant incident was the cancellation by the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) of an episode of Youssri Fouda's famous ONTV programme Akher Kalam (Last Word).

The popular TV interviewer intended to host the internationally known Egyptian writer Alaa el-Aswany to speak and comment over the SCAF's performance during the last nine months after the 25 January revolution.