The private sector share, independence and size of the Egyptian media is growing every year, driven by the engagement, activism and entrepreneurialism of modern Egyptians, and supported by government reforms, particularly policies which have opened the sector to private investment, especially since 2005. The growing diversity and accessibility of media, whether print, broadcast or electronic, is helping modern Egyptians face the challenges of development and engage in real debates, and further supporting their ability to be informed and to keep their government accountable. These developments are tangible and have been recognized around the world. For example, Egypt is ranked fourth for freedom of the press out of nineteen countries in Middle East and North Africa.
Media Free Zone
According to the BBC, the country has become a “major regional media player” thanks to the creation of its Media Public Free Zone and its expanding print, television, and internet presence, which is helping revive Egypt’s long time role as the Arab World’s media hub. Created in 2000, the Media Public Free Zone, also known as Media City, has significantly contributed to the growth of private media in modern Egypt. Media City provides a stable and reliable environment for private media companies to do business and attracts private investment to the growing Egyptian communications industry. Through tax incentives and other programs, the Egyptian government has encouraged broadcasting companies to manage news and media production in Egypt. As a result of this public and private endeavor, the private sector now owns more than 50 percent of the satellite and broadcast channels based in Media City.
Print News
According to the Oxford Business Group (OBG), Egypt has 17 daily and 30 weekly news publications. Additionally, more than 500 free press journals, magazines, and newspapers are available. Over half of these newspapers are privately owned, including 17 published by churches and Christian groups . OBG estimates approximately 200,000 newspaper copies from the entire independent press are sold daily. These newspapers run the gambit from right to left, and from national, to regional, to international, providing modern Egyptians with the most choice in recent decades.
Five new independent newspapers received licenses so far in 2009 —the most licenses ever to be granted within the span of a few months. The Shura Council granted licenses to the Ghad and Karama, two political opposition parties, to publish weekly newspapers, providing increasingly diverse media coverage in the country.
Broadcast News
Today, Egypt has more than five independent TV news broadcast channels and the highest number of television sets in the region, with 200 televisions per 1,000 Egyptians. Modern Egyptians currently have access to more than 260 free-to-air satellite TV channels that broadcast around the world, making the Egyptian market increasingly popular to international satellite broadcasters. Moreover, nightly public affairs talk shows are becoming an evening ritual for viewers around the country who turn to them for lively debate, coverage of controversies, and to take advantage of their call-in and other interactive features that allows them to express their opinions and air their grievances. Moreover, while the country is making progress in addressing illiteracy, television news is increasing access of information to groups who would be marginalized in a text-dominated media sector.
Pay television, which is subscription-based TV where channels can be picked and chosen by the user, is one of the most recent industries in Egypt with excellent growth potential. With 700,000 households available in the market, multinational companies such as Orbit have already started to penetrate the Egyptian market. The latter currently provides service in Europe, USA, and Australia.
Internet
Egypt is determined to deploy ICT as a cornerstone of economic, social and political development. Egypt’s internet is open and free, via dial-up, to all of the country’s citizens. The Open Net Initiative found “no evidence of Internet filtering in Egypt” in its August 2009 report. The organization checks for internet filtering of political, social, conflict/security sites and internet tools and found none.
With an internet penetration of 17.2.% in 2009 and an annual growth rate of 4.2% Egypt is making strides in access to the internet , and ranks 91 (out of 181 countries) in the Digital Opportunity Index, a global benchmark on information communications technology. There over 13 million internet users, approximately three-quarters of a million households with broadband access and over 200 internet and data service providers in modern Egypt . The government’s free dial up connection opens up the internet to even more citizens.
The government has fully supported the growth of the internet industry by opening it up to private investment, developing a reliable and growing core communications infrastructure, facilitating the transfer of technology, providing training and educational services to develop an ICT workforce, and moving towards e-government services. Younger generations are largely responsible for the growth and popularity of internet use. Modern Egyptians are becoming increasingly active online with nearly 162,000 bloggers, 30 percent of whom are between the ages of 20 and 30.
In June 2009, the Egyptian Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Tarek Mohamed Kamel, announced a new deal with Google to help expand the Arab-language content online. “Egypt’s policy line has been always trying to keep the Internet open, trying to keep it as a platform really for development, socioeconomic development, open as much as we can,” Dr. Kamel said in an interview with The Washington Times.
Egypt will host the fourth annual Internet Governance Forum in November 2009 at Sharm el Sheikh. Supported by the United Nations, the forum creates a high-level, multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on global internet governance
Press Freedom in modern egypt
In 2004, the Egyptian government established a Media Free Zone - an area in Giza where broadcast companies enjoy tax incentives if their production is centered there. This reform has been key in opening the Egyptian broadcast media to private investment and independent thought. The private sector now owns more than 50 percent of the satellite and broadcast channels based in the Media Free Zone.
News publications increased in Egypt from 27 in 1982 to more than 512 newspapers, journals, magazines and periodicals today. Over half of Egypt's modern newspapers are privately owned, including 17 newspapers published by churches and Christian groups. Independent newspapers sell an estimated 200,000 copies daily, according to the Oxford Business Group.
Modern Egyptians have access to more than 260 free-to-air satellite TV channels, broadcast from around the world. There are more than 32 TV channels broadcast from Egypt.
The government subsidizes internet access which is free of cost for dial-up use, while ADSL service can be obtained for a government-fixed rate of approximately $8/month. There are currently over 160 internet service providers (ISPs) in modern Egypt, and internet subscribers grew from 75,000 in 1998 to over 5 million in 2008. The number of blogs has exceeded 30,000.