Egyptian professor accuses media of bias

Egypt's Islamist TV channels should not be banned Cairo – Mohammed Imam An Egyptian professor at the Cairo University said he is against the closing of Islamist media channels. In an interview with Arab Today, Adly Reda, Professor of Media Studies and head of Radio and Television journalism at the Faculty of Mass Communication said, “Although I’m against the closure of all Islamists media channels, I blame these channels for neglecting their real mission to speak about religion and becoming involved in political issues instead, as well as being biased to one faction and accusing all other factions of infidelity. These channels have completely strayed away from their real mission, but if they committed to media methodology and moderation, there is no problem of re-opening them.” He added all media outlets should adhere to ethical standards, “because there are a lot of satellite channels attacking the Muslim Brotherhood indiscriminately”.  With reference to regulation of broadcast material and breach of conduct, Reda said, “This punishment should come in three phases. First sending a warning to the journalist or the media figure, if the violation repeated, the second phase became applicable, which is paying a penalty, the third phase is suspending the journalist or the media figure work, not the channel or the newspaper.” He said, “Egyptian state TV is not weak.  It only needs to change its strategy, which wasn’t changed for many years in order to keep pace with media developments. It also needs financial aid to regain its strength, especially after the recent losses during Egypt’s crisis."