The addictive cycle of TV news

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african voices, becky anderson, CNN, connect the world, Egypt, forced disappearances, freedom project, immigration, inside africa, Media, metrojet, news, parliamentary elections, personal, plane crash, russian plane, sarah sirgany, sex and the citadel, shereen el feki, war, wedding dress

My 2015 resolution was more writing and less TV work. It turned out to be the year with the least amount of writing and variation in outlets I contribute to. Instead, I did more TV, much more TV than I had planned. And different from what I imagined, with more variety in story types and kind of work that made it an exciting year despite the failed resolution.

The Arab Summit in March, held days after the Saudi attack on Yemen started, was a window into the other and more influential side of war: the smiles of diplomats, the calculated anger of officials, and the hushed conversations tucked in the hallways of the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

In the summer, I got the chance to take part in a lengthy investigation that spanned two countries. On the Egypt side, the team probed the factors and repercussions of illegal immigration of minors to Italy. Boys under the age of 18, usually 16 or younger, take advantage of Italian laws that prevent the deportation of unaccompanied minors. Their families buy them a spot on smuggling ships, hoping they would replicate the few success stories of illegal-immigrant-turned-business-owner in a short time. Kids picking up the main trade of sailing and fishing of the border villages they live in, like the Burg Meghizal village we reported from, are used by smugglers to sail the shaky boats. In case of arrest while en route to Italy, minors would be referred to shelters rather than prison, and if they make it safely, they would have worked the worth of their ticket to the other side of the Mediterranean.

In Italy, the rest of the team documented how these kids, under family pressure to make money, escape the shelters and end up in the prostitution or drugs businesses.

You can watch the three parts here:

Egyptian boys: seeking prosperity, dying at sea,

Egypt teens seek roads paved with gold in Europe

In Rome, migrant children forced to turn to prostitution

It was turned into a 30-minute special with more interviews and footage, but sadly it’s not online. The story was part of the CNN immigration and refugee coverage that won the Association of International Broadcasters Award in November.

Also in the summer, Becky Anderson’s Connect the World started its annual tour of the region, which is making a habit of ending prematurely in the wake of wars and other upheavals. This year, Egypt’s week wasn’t cut short like in 2014. The show was aired live from Cairo for four days culminating in the café set that featured multiple guests discussing sex, politics, economy and art.

You can watch clips from the Egypt arm of the tour here:

Bassem Youssef crashes Connect the World

Sex and society in the Middle East

Sharmoofers: The Sound of Cairo

Who’s responsible for over 160 missing Egyptians?

And to diversify things a bit, I got to work with African Voices and Inside Africa, two programs that are more flexible with format. We got to profile Sondos Shabayek, the woman behind the Bussy Project and its gender-based storytelling and interactive performances; and Yasmine Yeya, the talented and exclusive wedding designer, among others. We worked on an art-themed episode for Inside Africa.

Every year has to have an intense cycle of news coverage. This year it was the Russian airplane that crashed in Sinai. I traveled to Sharm El-Sheikh on the day of the crash and stayed there for almost two weeks. The intense live hits schedule and the continuous demand for new information drove an adrenaline high. Despite my long-unfulfilled intention to leave news, that adrenaline rush is as addictive as much as nerve wrecking. News for TV is more demanding than print. It’s highly competitive; scoops, deadlines and the demand for official response are measured in seconds and minutes. It gives less time for verification and the exposure each little piece of information aired on TV gets magnifies the smallest mistake. Despite this, and the unyielding struggle of acquiring information out of Egyptian officials, it is easy to get into this news cycle and deliver, like latching onto the greased wheels of a robust machine.

Such attachment to news cycles remains scary; like a black hole drawing you in to a grinder that spits you out months later unaware of the time spent – or wasted – or how the stories had scared you.

You can watch some of our plane crash coverage here:

Sharm el-Sheikh airport security under scrutiny

Can Egyptian tourism recover from Flight 9268 crash?

This year hasn’t been completely without writing. I contributed numerous stories to CNN.com, either to accompany TV reports we produced or on their own. You can read some of them here:

16 dead in protests marking Egypt revolution

Freed Al Jazeera journalist: I can’t get back my baby’s first 6 months

New terrorism law could target journalists in Egypt

Burned out and apathetic, Egypt prepares to vote – again

Is Egypt verdict a victory for LGBT rights? – Al-Monitor

The biggest contribution in writing has been on the research side. For over a year, I researched the disenfranchised electorate as a non-resident fellow at the DC-based Atlantic Council. The paper was postponed and consequently rewritten repeatedly as the parliamentary elections kept shifting from late 2014 to eventually October-November 2015. The paper surveyed previous and potential players and the voter base that would identify with them and why they would be sitting out the elections. According to the High Election Committee, the turnout for both phases was at 28.3 percent.

The paper, released end of July, can be read here:

To Vote or Not to Vote: Examining the Disenfranchised in Egypt’s Political Landscape

During the election season, I met with Mohamed Badran and members of the party he heads, Mostaqbal Watan (A Nation’s Future). With rumored closeness to Sisi and impressive results for a one-year-old party, Badran and his team are still on shaky grounds. His ambition could be hubris, and the rising star could crumble without any solid ideology gluing the party together.

The 24 Year Old Party Leader who Seeks to Rule Egypt

Despite the unrealized resolution, 2015 was gratifying career wise. I still aim to make the same resolution in 2016, and I’m trying to follow few steps to make it happen. But like last year, I’m open to what life brings my way.  It has been nothing short of exciting and invigorating.

Overdue personal/professional update

Tags

Daily News Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Indpendent, Egypt Monocle, journalism, local journalism, mada masr

Since as readers of this you’ve been involved in the saga of the temporary closure of Daily News Egypt, I assume you would be interested in this overdue update.

The paper, as seen from the last post, closed down after the owning company liquidated its assets. Later, an investor and a newspaper owner bought the name and hired a new team, who are doing a great job covering the confusing events. The archives are there but the stories are slowly making it back to the website.

The old team briefly worked on a new project, Egypt Monocle, but has since moved on to different projects. Former DNE Chief Editor Rania Al-Malky is operating the Monocle. Others have moved to Egypt Independent, which closed down last April, and have recently contributed to the launch of Mada Masr. (Read more about local English-language journalism).

I’ve taken this as an opportunity to go back to the field as a reporter. The few years I spent behind the news desk were challenging but turned frustrating as the events unfolded without enough chances to report them first hand.

Now I blog for Al-Akhbar English under the name Labyrinth and contribute to Al-Monitor, among other publications and websites. I’m also a freelance TV producer with CNN and occasionally contribute to cnn.com (You might be interested in reading & watching this package on Egypt’s missing).

I’ve come to love the freelance work and schedule and the associated lifestyle. It allows me the time to think and get more confused with the events, as you will see in upcoming posts.

Journalists, bloggers recount personal experience of Egypt’s revolution

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bloggers, diaries of the revolution, Egypt, fandango, I Diari Della Rivoluzione, Italian, jan25, Mubarak, revolution diaries

The personal stories of Egypt’s 18-day uprising is the focus of a new book “I Diari Della Rivoluzione” (Diaries of the Revolution), launched in Italy this week.

The book tells the story of the January uprising through the eyes of six bloggers and journalists and the material they wrote during the 18 days or immediately after. A narrative evolves, as paths intersect and perspectives change, interweaving the personal experiences with the political upheaval and nationwide protests.

The story goes beyond Tahrir Square and the protests, to draw a broader picture of Cairo at the time. Spanning the period between Jan. 25 and Feb. 11, the book ends as another lengthier chapter in Egypt’s ongoing revolution starts.

It features activist and consultant Mahmoud Salem, aka Sandmonkey; journalist and development policy consultant Mohamed El-Dahshan; web designer and social media consultant Tarek Shalaby; science journalist and adventurer Nadia Al-Awady; business journalist and writer Amira Salah-Ahmed; and journalist Sarah El Sirgany.

El Sirgany and Ahmed are both editors at Daily News Egypt.

The book was compiled by El Sirgany. Italian journalist and editor at Corriere della Serra Viviana Mazza wrote the preface and Egyptian activist and journalist Hossam El-Hamalawy wrote the introduction.

Mazza, El Sirgany and El-Hamalawy celebrated the first launch of the book at the Internazionale Festival in Ferrara. Days earlier El-Hamalawy was awarded the Anna Politkovskaja journalism award at the same festival.

Internazionale, an Italian magazine, brings together journalists, writers and artists to the small north Italian city every year for a festival combining literature and world affairs. Its 2011 agenda featured a panel on Egypt’s political affairs post-Jan. 25, featuring El-Hamalawy, El Sirgany, journalist Issandr El Amrani and writer Ahmed Naje.

The launch of the book was also celebrated in Milan and Rome, where the publisher Fandango Libri is based.

The book had initially started as a series of columns written by El Sirgany in January and February 2011, for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. Translated into Italian by Mazza, the columns were then developed, with the help of literary agent Maria Cristina Guerra, into the book’s current format, a multi-perspective personal narrative of Egypt’s iconic uprising.

As published by Daily News Egypt.

Buy the book.

Revolution Diaries: Feb. 11 – Celebrating a revolution

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demosntrations, Egypt, jan25, Mubarak, protest, Tahrir

Disbelief. It took me a few minutes to process the seconds-long announcement. It was short enough to fit in a tweet. But it was mighty. President Mubarak has stepped down.

I broke into tears when it downed on me. Protests worked. Peaceful street action worked. Egypt is free, for the first time in my life.

I was born in 1982, a year after Mubarak assumed power. For 28 years, he was the only president I’d lived under.

On Feb. 11, 2011, this changed.

It was a victory for martyrs and for protesters whose patriotism was questioned. When it was time to celebrate, the entirety of Egypt took to the streets.

I could hear the sounds of car horns, ululations, fireworks and cheers as I edited the monumental story for my newspaper. Egyptians were celebrating their rebirth.

Tears were abundant. When an Armed Forces spokesperson acknowledged the martyrs with a military salute, everyone in the room, including me, cried. It was the first official acknowledgment of their sacrifice.  They’ll be in our hearts, as we celebrate tonight and when we start rebuilding tomorrow. Their blood didn’t go in vain.

This ran in Italian in the Corriere Della Sera.

Revolution Diaries: Feb 10 – Waiting for victory

Tags

democracy, demonstration, Egypt, jan25, Mubarak, protest, Tahrir

Is it victory? The mere news that Mubarak might step down or aside triggered celebrations in Egypt’s streets, especially in demonstration sites. Concerns about possible grim scenarios of military coup or martial laws were temporarily brushed aside.

It was time to relish a well-earned victory, or at least a possible one.

The 17 days that led to this were a rollercoaster of emotions and unprecedented stirring of political stagnation. First there was the unification in protesters’ calls for the president to step down. Pictures from Jan. 25 to Jan. 31 were tainted by the blood of those who died, but sprinkled with blissful comradeship.

The rift that followed divided Egyptians and even families. A colleague said this had Omar Suleiman’s intelligence work written all over it. Mubarak became synonymous with stability as state TV systematically vilified the pro-democracy protesters.

Once-safe streets became dangerous for journalists, as pro-Mubarak mobs spread like wildfire.

It was infuriating and at times too depressing to even write.

But then there was hope. Activist Wael Ghonim, administrator of the Facebook group that helped mobilize demonstrations, was released on Feb. 7 after a 12-day detention. His emotional TV interview, which saw him break in tears when seeing pictures of some of the 300 killed in protests, revived hope in the nation. But most importantly, it unified it.

Momentum feared to have been lost was reignited and numbers of protesters on streets surpassed those of earlier days. Labor strikes breathed life into calls for regime change.

A Friday march commemorating the martyrs was expected to draw the largest number of protesters, the country had ever seen.

Even though people were cautious in their happiness as news about Mubarak’s possible departure spread — fearing a grim alternative of martial laws or military law — it was evident that joy had taken over. The scenes of people celebrating — incomparable to street fests following popular football victories — revealed strength, willpower and love of life that would only grow stronger, regardless of what Mubarak had to say.

This moment — before Mubarak gave a confusing speech that disappointed and infuriated protesters — was victorious.

Friday might seal that victory, but it even at dawn it was too early to judge.

A version of this ran in Italian in the Corriere Della Sera.

Revolution Diaries: Feb. 3 – Run journalists Run

Tags

democracty, Egypt, foreign media, jan25, journalists, Media, mob, Mubarak, safe, thugs

Foreign journalists became the target on Wednesday. As Pro-Mubarak mobs, believed to be thugs and undercover police, tried to storm the pro-democracy protest in Tahrir Square, anyone with a camera became a target.

Deadly clashes saw people on horses storm Tahrir to attack unarmed protesters in a surreal scene. The attack on journalists there by Pro-Mubarak protesters was similarly orchestrated. A journalist friend said if you can’t run, don’t go there.

By the next morning, the target wasn’t simply people with cameras, but anyone who looked remotely foreign. State TV and phone calls aired live by private satellite TV have been blaming “foreigners” for mobilizing the Tahrir protesters and turning them against their country.

Two of our Daily News Egypt reporters were attacked by mobs while doing field reporting in a district away from Tahrir. “They are foreign; they are asking questions,” the mobs said as they tried to beat them along with any Egyptian that dared defend them. An army officer saved the reporters. Another was running trying to disperse crowds attacking other foreigners.

Mob mentality took over and people were charged. I stood watching in disbelief, anger and fear, mourning my once safe Egypt.

I drove a French-American journalist to the airport later that day. In the morning he said he’d ignore his embassy’s call to evacuate and stay in Egypt. After the attack he packed his bags. We had to avoid roads known to be dominated by the Mubarak mobs. We made it to the airport safe, but I felt I was smuggling drugs not driving a friend across the city.

This ran in Italian in the Corriere Della Sera.

Revolution Diaries: Feb. 2 – The battle

Tags

Cairo, democracy, Egypt, jan25, mob, Mubarak, Tahrir, thugs

The president’s speech late Tuesday night created a split that was evident on Wednesday morning.

Those in Tahrir said that lives lost prevented them from leaving. Mubarak gave promises, not decisions. But for others outside, the president has made unprecedented concessions. Life should go back to normal.

My concerns about this worrying split in opinion were quashed by midday. The streets that raged with support for demonstrators for eight days – except for those who wanted to go back to work so they can eat – suddenly had people chanting “Long Live Mubarak.”

“Yes we want the demonstrations to end but I would never chant for Mubarak,” a man told me on the bridge overlooking central Cairo.

I saw a truck carrying pro-Mubarak protesters heading to downtown. The scene was reminiscent of elections, when state-run businesses send their employees to vote for the ruling party’s candidates.

But what I thought would be merely provoking demonstrations turned to be an organized attack of plain-cloth police and thugs on those camped in Tahrir for 8 days.

It was brutal, more than Friday and Saturday. Tahrir has been kept free of any weapon-like material; protesters wanted to keep it peaceful. Unarmed, they were belted with rocks but eventually responded to fend themselves. It turned ugly as the Pro-Mubarak people, at one point on horses and camels, used Molotov cocktails.

Hundreds were injured and people died.

Hopefully, the Wednesday carnage would be the squirming of a fleeing dictator.

This ran in Italian in the Corriere Della Sera.

Revolution Diaries: Jan. 31 – Are you ready?

Tags

Cairo, democracy, Egypt, jan25, Mubarak, protest, Tahrir

Egypt has gone beyond a standoff phase. We live in two worlds, each intent on ignoring the existence of the other. On one hand, the president is holding on to power and making insignificant changes to the cabinet that are cosmetic at best. On the other, protesters are not even paying attention to what he’s doing; they just want him to leave.

No one is budging. What to do?

The opposition has called for a million man march on Tuesday. By Monday night, tens of thousands have flocked to the central Tahrir Square. They plan to stay the night there, waiting for their brethren to join them.

I can’t speculate what Mubarak is doing meanwhile, but I don’t think he’s watching TV. Otherwise, he would have heard the same word over and over again on all channels except State TV: Leave.

There is a similar state of schizophrenia in the city. A couple of hours into the curfew, as I crossed from central Cairo to the Eastern suburb where I live — to spend the first night home since Friday — I was nervous for the first time. It was a feeling I didn’t experience at the height of the violent crackdown on protesters on Jan. 28.

The military check points surrounding the presidential palace and the neighborhood watch groups on literally every corner made the city feel like a war site. Maybe it was civil war, against a faceless enemy — identified as a gang of thugs and looters in some circles and as disguised policemen executing a scaremongering scheme in others.

The people there seemed oblivious to the raging demonstrations that roamed the same streets days earlier. Maybe they had participated in some earlier in the day or will do later on. It wasn’t clear.

Spending the night on the other side of the city, I myself felt detached from the ongoing revolution – having the TV and phone as my only connection in an ongoing internet blackout. But that’s only physical detachment, because I’m already gearing up for tomorrow, ready for the million man march. I’m sure others are doing the same.

This ran in Italian in the Corriere Della Sera.

Revolution Diaries: Jan. 30 – Dead body & Curfew

Tags

Cairo, Egypt, jan25, Mubarak

Sunday started with a dead body and ended up with a tiring long string of check points.

Again the days have merged and there was no telling which was today and which was the day before. But sometime early morning, we got a tip through twitter that a dead body was thrown out by a police car in Mounira.

I woke up Ian Lee, my colleague and DNE video journalist and we headed out. We drove, parked in Zamalek and walked to Tahrir. People who set up barricades on the street leading from Qasr El-Nil Bridge to Tahrir were checking IDs of the few who wanted to get into the now-iconic site of mass demonstrations in central Cairo.

At 8 am, thousands were still there chanting, calling for Mubarak to step down, under the watchful eyes of the army. From the looks of it, they had all camped in Tahrir overnight.

The street between Al-Mogamma and The American University in Cairo was flooded with water. Further up on Al-Qasr Al-Aini Street, army had a forceful presence. Tanks and soldiers lined the once busy street that houses the Parliament, the cabinet and leads to many ministries including the Interior. A couple of burnt down security trucks on the side were a reminder of the clashes between civilians and the police.

In a side street following that of the parliament, a group of three men in their 40s and 50s were standing as part of the neighborhood watch. At the time we were there, civilians policed all the side and back streets, with army nowhere to be found except on Qasr Al-Aini and the area surrounding the Ministry of Interior.

Cars coming out of the ministry that morning had shot at the neighborhood watch, wounding one of them, the men told us. Their theory was that top police officers who had been hiding there since Friday evening or even before wanted to flee but were scared of the now-empowered citizens. The unspoken feeling was that the days of corruption, torture and intimidation were over.

One of the tree men, who identified himself as a top executive in a multinational bank (details removed upon his request), told us about the dead body. A sliver Toyota without registration plates threw it at checkpoint and ran. At the following check point, neighborhood watch checked the driver who presented them with a police ID, state security. The men assure me they saw the ID. After letting him pass, they found the men manning the earlier checkpoints running after the car, telling them they shouldn’t have let the car passed.

The body had a gunshot wound in the abdomen. It wasn’t bleeding, the men stressed. The man must have died earlier and was later shot to cover up the cause of death, they theorized.

The body that was thrown outside the Mounira Police Station was left there for 3-4 hours. The Mounira Hospital refused to come collect it, saying it was the responsibility of the Morgue. Their hands were already full treating the wounded. A resident in the area told us later that a car from the hospital took it.

Residents had covered it in a bed sheet, in a sign of respect for the dead.

The Trip Home

After spending two nights at the office, it was time to go back home. My mother has been home alone (my father has been stranded in Alexandria and my brother has been helping me over the past couple of days). We couldn’t print the paper on Friday, after the 6 pm curfew was imposed at 5.30. The mobile networks and the internet were down. We wanted to print it on Sunday. We did.

This meant we had to be done by 3.30 so we can deliver our content on CD by hand to the printer. For someone who constantly works under tight deadline, Sunday’s was one of the most challenging.

We did put the paper up and managed to restore our website and update it from reporters based in the office and spread across the city. But it was after 5 when we left the office. Civil checkpoints were already set up more than an hour ago. Men from our street walked in front of two cars carrying reporters and editors to clear our way to the main road. There, the man heading the neighborhood watch, a physician, rode in our car to take us through.

The area was the most organized neighborhood watch I had seen that day. As we stopped at a checkpoint on every corner, he gave instructions to the men manning it. A new system and a new color of identifying headbands were being used that night. Systems had to be changed to avoid infiltrators.

The 6 October Bridge was eerily empty. We were advised to speed through. Salah Salem Road was manned by army and republic guards. Checkpoints and detours. Checkpoints, search and detours. Checkpoints and detours. It seemed never ending.

The area leading to and surrounding the presidential palace was completely sealed off by tanks. Once inside Heliopolis, civil checkpoints reigned.

I’m not easily scared, but the unexpectedness of the process left us tense. There was no way of knowing who is manning the next checkpoints. Each area had its own set of codes and systems and we had to adapt to their requests. The most important thing is to keep car saloon light on and drive slowly.

And some men, who were standing there for the second or third night in a row, were understandably tense too. One man thought he had the right to rebuke us for staying out this late, it was 7 pm.

We finally made it home. Our friends in the other car, who had ventured further in Heliopolis took an extra hour of civil and army checkpoints.

Once home, I was glad that the demonstrations in Tahrir were oblivious to the curfew that has paralyzed the city that never slept. The chants for Mubarak to step down were still loud. Our reporter there was heading to the office to put together a video report.

 

Thoughts & analysis

Now the curfew has been moved to 3 pm. This means that people have to empty the streets earlier and civil protection have a longer period of time to cover. The army made it clear on Sunday that it was serious about imposing the curfew, unlike the two previous days. But contrary to what State TV had suggested –that the armed forced would firmly deal with violators – the army didn’t arrest anyone; it was merely checking cars/pedestrians, albeit rigorously.

In addition to reports that citizens have been arresting thugs that turn out to be police, other factors led me to believe that the state of fear spread across the capital is a government tactic. The looting that happened on Friday after police disappeared with the curfew was somewhat plausible. People needed money and it was sitting there unguarded. According to TV interviews, some men with no criminal background found others looting and joined.

But it doesn’t make any sense for a thief, who is by nature a coward, to see all the men armed with batons, knifes, guns and other professional and makeshift weapons and yet tries to engage. Many of the areas guarded are mainly residential, which means that looting would be difficult and money and valuables aren’t guaranteed to be there, unlike stores.

Looters were surprisingly aware of all store locations in all areas as if they have studied them and planned for the thefts for months before that. Also implausible.

Someone suggested that many people are now concerned with protecting their homes than they are with protesting. It’s true for many people, even though demonstrations haven’t waned. But they definitely could’ve been stronger.

Police is said to be deploying back in the country after three days of complete absence. Whether it’ll re-engage with protesters is yet to be seen. Clashes with police, especially with those left near the ministry of interior have already left at least a hundred dead. And people are not backing down.

(I didn’t even have time to give this a second read. Sorry for any mistakes)

Revolution Diaries: Jan. 29 – Revolution has a price

Tags

Egypt, jan25, Mubarak

On Saturday morning, it seemed that Friday hasn’t ended. Not because of the possible historic nature of a day that could be marked as the start of the revolution, but there was no point where it ended and Saturday began.

Wary of a curfew that was largely ignored and lured by the scarce internet access in a day of communication blackout, the paper’s editors and writers decided to spend the night together at the office.

At 7 am, when the curfew ended, Cairo’s streets were typically empty. But slowly traffic picked up, as Cairenes locked by curfew and fear of looters overnight rushed to make it home.

A warm bed never felt better, but only for an hour. A hospital was a more important destination. I had to check my head injury before going back to the streets. (I’m fine). There were many issues on the line for this budding revolution.

The army was deployed on Friday and it wasn’t clear if it would support the regime or protect the people from police brutality. Egyptians had vowed to return to the streets after the President said in a Friday speech he’d form a new government, instead of stepping down as they demanded.

As the city grabbled to count its fallen protesters, the army turned to be on non-engagement mode. Most of the tens of thousands that poured into Tahrir since Saturday morning marched the streets without teargas or the rumored live ammo.

It was only near the interior ministry that battles had taken place with deaths that are still being counted.

The euphoria of the day before was there and increasing with the same rate as the numbers on the streets. The army imposed an earlier curfew at 4 pm, but until 8 demonstrators were still chanting down with Mubarak. With the images of morgues filled with bloodied bodies of protestors, people knew they’ve and already are paying the price. They more than deserved the fruits of their revolution.

This ran in Italian in Correire Della Sera