DEDI Media Club (DMC) held an expanded discussion session on Saturday the 11th of February titled “The Egyptian media … To where?” where participant media experts, journalists, and media people tackled the challenges faced by the press as well as the media industry and profession in Egypt. The latter subjects were discussed in light of the media’s economic crisis, the current legislation and the laws that are to be passed to regulate the media process.
Journalist Mahmoud El-Werwary inaugurated the proceedings of the session by proposing several topics for discussion. The first major discussion topic is “property” taking into consideration the changes that occurred in the ownership of the Egyptian media institutions. The second major discussion topic is “professionalism”: how is it possible to evaluate professional performance in 2016 and anticipate its progress for 2017? And how can technical progress contribute to increasing professionalism in the media industry? The last discussion topic is “competitiveness” which has become difficult in light of modern technology: how do we envision the future of public service media and what are our plans to turn it into a successful pattern and help it achieve its mission as stated in the Constitution of 2014? Also, how do we resolve the clash between media and advertising? And why do viewers and readers no longer resort to traditional media to form their ideas?
El-Werwary explained that by exposing and discussing these topics, it becomes possible to perceive the media’s future with all its challenges, concerns and risks.