Al-Masry Al-Youm(Arabic:المصري اليومal-Maṣrī l-Yawm,IPA:[elˈmɑsˤɾilˈjoːm],meaningThe Egyptian Today) is an Egyptian privately owneddailynewspaperthat was first published in June 2004. It is published inArabicas is its website,almasryalyoum.An English version of the website was introduced in 2009 as theAl-masry Al-youm English Edition,which later evolved intoEgypt Independent.[1][2]It strives to be a full-service multimedia news organization for Egypt.[3][4]
 | |
 TypicalAl-Masry Al-Youmfront page. | |
| Type | Daily newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Compact |
| Owner(s) | Al-Masry Al-Youm for Journalism and Publication |
| Editor | Abdellatif El-Menawy |
| Founded | 7 June 2004 |
| Political alignment | Independent Reformist Liberal |
| Headquarters | Garden City,Cairo,Egypt |
| Website | almasryalyoum(in Arabic) almasryalyoum /en |
History and profile
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The newspaper was founded in late 2002 by Salah Diab, an Egyptian businessman whose grandfather (Tawfik Diab) was one of Egypt's most renowned publishers in the 1930s and 1940s. Hisham Kassem is also a founder ofAl Masry Al Youm.[5]In 2004, its establishment was finalized,[6]and on 7 June 2004, it published its first edition.[7][8]The publisher of the daily is Al-Masry Al-Youm for Journalism and Publication.[7]
Magdi El Galadis one of the formereditors-in-chiefof the paper.[5][9]Until 3 May 2014 Mohamed Salmawi served as editor-in-chief of the daily when Ali Al Sayed was appointed to the post.[10]
The paper has a liberal leaning.[11]It initially circulated primarily amongst Cairo's intellectual elite, providing objective news coverage in the belief that good news would beat sensationalist reporting found in other Egyptian print media. It has been said that the paper's launch "helped inaugurate a new opening for independent media in Egypt.".[12]After 3 three years, it was challengingAl-Ahramfor the status of being the national paper of record. As of 2009 it was regarded as the most influential newspaper in Egypt.[13]
It has successfully responded to the Egyptian media market as a whole and not a single political party, like many Egyptian opposition papers, and was unafraid to take on hard-hitting topics, like governmental news outlets. Further, it harnessed the energy of young journalists, giving them incentives to produce good work.[13]
In 2012, the paper's online version was the 26th most-visited website in Egypt based on theAlexadata.[14]The same year the paper sold 250,000 copies.[15]
2011 Gaza Aid Flotilla Initiative
editIn July, 2011,Al Masry Al Youmpublicized its initiative to host theFreedom Flotilla 2in Egypt and to have the flotilla's ships sail for Gaza from an Egyptian port. The flotilla's ships were stalled in Greece after Greek authorities refused to let them sail. The paper reported that flotilla activists welcomed the paper's initiative to sail from Egypt.[16]The French shipDignité Al Karamawas the only ship in the flotilla that managed to approach Gaza. It turned towards Gaza after publicly announcing that its destination was the port of Alexandria, before being intercepted by Israeli commandos and escorted to the Israeli port ofAshdod.Al Masry Al Youmreported at the time that a source among the flotilla's activists said to the paper that "the ship will reach the port of Alexandria to refuel, in response to the invitation ofAl Masry Al Youm,and after that it will proceed to one of the Mediterranean ports, and from there directly to Gaza, challenging all of the threats that Israel has issued. "[17]
Accusations of self-censorship
editOn 1 December 2011, the chief editor ofAl-Masry Al-Youmobjected to and ultimately censored a print issue ofEgypt Independent,Al-Masry's weeklyEnglish-languagenewspaper supplement that was launched in November 2011. The second issue ofEgypt Independentwas to carry an opinion piece by Robert Springborg, a political scientist and expert on Egyptian civil-military relations, that was critical of theSupreme Council of the Armed Forcesthat had ruled Egypt since the February, 2011 departure of former presidentHusni Mubarak.Springborg and the Egypt Independent staff collaborated to alter the offending sections in the opinion piece, however the second issue of the supplement was nevertheless prevented from being published. Professor Springborg was himself accused of being a "conspirator against Egypt’s stability" on 7 December 2011 Arabic-language edition ofAl-Masry al-Youm.The self-censorship episode prompted the staff ofEgypt Independentto write that "even after 25 January, self-censorship still plagues Egyptian media. As an Egyptian newspaper, we, too, suffer from it. But if self-censorship becomes internalized and goes unquestioned, it becomes an irreversible practice. We refuse to let this happen."[12]
Egypt Independentclosure
editEgypt Independentwas closed by the parent company in April 2013. Its final print issue which was due to be published on 25 April was withheld by the owners. It was eventually made available in an online digital edition.[18][19]
In June 2013, former journalists ofEgypt Independentfounded an online newspaper entitledMada Masr.[20]
Editors
edit- Magdi Mehanna(2004)
- Anwar El Hawari(2004–2005)
- Magdi El Galad(2005–2012)
- Mohamad Samir(2012)
- Yasser Rizk(2012–2013)
- Mohamed Salmawy(2014)
- Ali Al Sayyed (2014–2015)
- Mahmoud Musallam (2015–2016)
- Mohamed El Sayed Saleh (2017–present)
References
edit- ^"Time for something new".24 November 2011.Retrieved26 April2013.
- ^"Championing The Cause of Narrative: An Obituary for A Newspaper that cannot Be Allowed to Live".Tahrir Squared.25 April 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 26 April 2013.Retrieved25 April2013.
- ^"About Al-Masry Al-Yaum".Al-Masry Al-Yaum.Retrieved23 October2010.
- ^عن المصري اليوم.Al-Masry Al-Yaum(in Arabic).Archivedfrom the original on 2 October 2010.Retrieved23 October2010.
- ^ab"Al Masry Al Youm transforming Egyptian press".Tavaana.Archived fromthe originalon 13 September 2014.Retrieved13 September2014.
- ^"Newcomer on Egyptian newspaper market making headlines".Arab Press Network.27 March 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 28 July 2013.Retrieved1 March2013.
- ^abHend Selim."The Coverage of Egypt's Revolution in the Egyptian, American and Israeli Newspapers"(PDF).Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 December 2013.Retrieved29 September2013.
- ^Yasmin Moll (16 March 2005)."How liberal are the nations two new liberal daily newspapers? And what does an Egyptian liberal believe in, anyway?".Egypt Today.Retrieved8 September2014.
- ^Sami Kamal Al Din (2005)."600 publications in Egypt and not enough readers".Al Ahrām al 'Arabī.26:40–43.Retrieved8 September2014.
- ^"Media Situation in Egypt: Twelfth report for the period May and June 2014"(Report).Al Sawt Al Hurr.2014.Retrieved6 October2014.
- ^Jonathan Brown (December 2011)."Salafis and Sufis in Egypt"(PDF).Carnegie Endowment.Retrieved27 September2014.
- ^ab"Time for an independent conversation".Egypt Independent.Archived fromthe originalon 29 March 2012.Retrieved26 December2012.
- ^ab2008, week 19, art. 2Arab-West Report
- ^Omar Halawa (28 September 2012)."Indebted and overstaffed, how can state-owned papers survive?".Egypt Independent.Retrieved6 October2014.
- ^Caryle Murphy (18 December 2012)."The Future of Print".The Majalla.Archived fromthe originalon 23 July 2013.Retrieved5 July2013.
- ^"نشطاء" أسطول الحرية 2 "يرحبون بمبادرة" المصرى اليوم "للإبحار من مصر المصري اليوم، أخبار اليوم من مصر".Al Masry Al Youm.28 May 2010.Retrieved26 December2012.
- ^"أسطول" الحرية 2 "يبدأ تنفيذ مبادرة" المصرى اليوم "ويصل الإسكندرية" خلال يومين "المصري اليوم، أخبار اليوم من مصر".Al Masry Al Youm.17 July 2011.Retrieved26 December2012.
- ^"Egypt Independent 2009-2013".Al Masry Al Youm.25 April 2013.Retrieved4 May2013.
- ^"In the Egypt Independent's closure, an end of a beginning".Columbia Journalism Review.30 April 2013.Retrieved4 May2013.
- ^"And we're back..."Mada Masr.30 June 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 3 August 2013.Retrieved4 August2013.
External links
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Media related toAl-Masry Al-Youmat Wikimedia Commons
