In a recent meeting regarding the Egyptian media landscape, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi laid out a series of directives that could serve as a roadmap for the sector’s development.
However, a significant gap exists between his vision and the actual reality on the ground.
The path from ambition to practice is fraught with obstacles that must be overcome to realize his goal of a country with a free press.
This analytical article seeks to interpret these key directives and examine the feasibility of their implementation, as well as the potential challenges that could strip them of their intended meaning.
The President’s directive for a comprehensive media roadmap raises questions about whether a genuine effort will be made toward radical reform that fully liberates the media in line with the standards of developed nations, where the press plays its role as the fourth estate.
The risk is that this roadmap could devolve into mere technical projects—such as digital platforms, studio upgrades, or the launch of new channels—without touching the core issues of freedom and independence. International experience shows that cosmetic development is not enough and that technology without freedom cannot create influential media.
The President also stressed the importance of the media’s role in building national awareness.
This is a fundamental requirement, but within the Egyptian context, it is often interpreted as “mobilization media.” As a result, it transforms into a direct, unappealing, and alienating form of propaganda that citizens largely ignore. In contrast, democratic societies build public awareness through discussion, pluralism, investigative journalism, and critical articles that reveal the truth and hold officials accountable.
This objective cannot be achieved under a policy of a single narrative presented as the absolute truth.
Such awareness is fragile and will collapse at the first sign of a crisis.
One of the most crucial directives was to facilitate journalist access to accurate information, especially during crises. This is a vital development, as journalism without proper information turns into propaganda. However, the obstacle is that the prevailing culture tends to hoard information and treat it as secret, even if it is just economic or health data.
In the absence of transparency, rumors fill the vacuum, and the state loses the public’s trust.
The President’s call to support young media professionals is a necessary step, as Egyptian media suffers from a stagnation of faces and methods. But the fear is that this support will be limited to superficial training programs without providing the real-world opportunities that would guarantee young people the freedom to create new, diverse, and bold content.
Young journalists don’t just need technical training; they need a professional environment that respects their independence and allows them to be the voice of society, not merely its mouthpiece.
The directive on upholding the principle of an “opinion and the other opinion” is the most prominent of all, as it represents the very core of a free media.
However, it will never be achieved if it is limited to diversity within a single, approved framework. True pluralism means allowing independent voices to boldly criticize government policies. The question here is: are we prepared to handle that?
Ultimately, the five directives of President Sisi represent an idealistic vision.
Egyptian media is in need of comprehensive reform, but the essence of that reform lies not in technology or training programs, but in freedom. The fundamental difference between media in Egypt and media in democratic countries is independence and the ability to act as an effective oversight mechanism and a tool for accountability.
This is what enables societies to adapt to crises and make informed decisions. The question that remains open is: do we have the will to let the media play its natural role?
Even with these directives, a fundamental paradox remains. If they are taken seriously, the first step is to recognize that the media is not a threat but a tool for stability.
Following this path, we could witness the opening of genuinely pluralistic spaces, widespread access to information, and protection for journalists. The media would become a true partner to the state in facing crises, capable of gauging public sentiment and detecting shifts before they implode.
The outcome would be the building of new trust between the public and the authorities, transforming the media from a burden lacking credibility into a force that supports stability and development.
However, another possibility remains ever-present: that these directives are stripped of their practical meaning and treated as mere political decoration or a cosmetic facade. On this path, secrecy will remain the norm, and pluralism will be limited to a formal opposition operating within safe boundaries.
Training programs for young professionals will simply repeat the government’s narrative instead of renewing it, “an opinion and the other opinion” will ring hollow, and a hostile relationship with journalists will persist.
In this case, the result will be a lasting gap between the government and the public and an inability to predict crises.
Caught between these two possibilities, a crucial question remains: do we have the courage to take the first path, which carries short-term risks but promises long-term stability, or will we remain captive to the second, where cosmetic development avoids the required change?
A key point worth considering here is the image of officials under a free press.
International experience has shown that officials who allow media freedom do not lose their status; on the contrary, they become true heroes in the eyes of their people.
Free media re-establishes legitimacy in a more robust and powerful way. When the public sees that the media reports on the state’s achievements and its failures in equal measure, they understand that what they are hearing is real.
When we look to the distant horizon, the consequences of President al-Sisi’s directives will not be limited to the present moment. Their impact will extend for the next decade, reshaping the relationship between the state and society, as well as Egypt’s image in the world.
If we pursue the path of freedom and gradually abandon our paternalistic mindset, the media can become a partner in the nation’s development.
Egypt will enter a different phase. In ten years, we could see a diverse media that reflects every voice and every current, capable of exposing corruption before it festers and following up on shortcomings before they turn into crises. Investigative journalism will become a tool for reform, not a threat.
The media will serve as an early warning system, alerting the state to economic and social problems before they explode.
Citizens will feel their voices are heard and that the media genuinely represents them.
This will build trust with the people and open the door for real economic development based on transparency and accountability.
However, if this current situation persists, and the directives are translated into superficial reforms without substance, the media will become even more isolated from its audience in about a decade.
It will turn from a tool of stability into a burden.
Ultimately, it is not productive to reduce media reform to simply changing faces or transferring responsibility from one party to another. Administrative changes alone cannot create real transformation; they may only reproduce the same crises with new features. Furthermore, entrusting this file to those who lack deep media expertise or a comprehensive reform vision will only lead to more confusion.
Media is a complex industry with its own rules, professionalism, and pioneers capable of blending professionalism and independence with a national role.
Therefore, the radical solution lies not in cosmetic changes or administrative shuffling, but in a comprehensive reform project that restructures the system based on the logic of both freedom and responsibility, so that the media can truly become a national industry that preserves society’s awareness.
Author’s bio:
Dina Abdel Fattah is a prominent Egyptian media professional with over two decades of experience. She is the founder and editor-in-chief of the business magazine Amwal Al Ghad. Her career includes key roles as the economic editor at Al Watan and Al Masry Al Youm newspapers.
She also has a strong background in broadcasting, having hosted shows like “60 Minutes with Dina Abdel Fattah” on Radio Masr, and started her career at Al Akhbar newspaper. In 2022, she became the first woman appointed to the board of United Media Services (UMS).
She is a dedicated advocate for women’s empowerment, having founded the Top 50 Women Forum and co-founded the Business Women Forum in 1996 to support and recognize women in business.
She holds a master’s degree from the American University in Cairo and has conducted doctoral and master’s research at the University of Sussex, specializing in the economics of young women, migration, and entrepreneurship.
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