Egyptian talk shows popular during revolution

Dubai The role of talk shows and their presenters in the Egyptian revolution was a popular talking point at the Arab Media Forum.

During the session titled “Talk shows phenomenon — Case Study— Egypt,” speakers discussed how talk shows changed before and after the revolution and whether Egyptian Talk shows had an influence in former president Hosni Mubarak’s ouster.

Moderator Liala Al Shaikhi, TV presenter at Al Jazeera, asked the speakers about what changes they noticed regarding the freedom that prevailed in talk shows have before and after the revolution.

“The Egyptian media is going backwards, yes there are no red lines after the revolution but those who do cross them will later be targeted and suffer the consequences so they eventually do pay a price for their freedom of speech,” said Dorria Sharaf El-Din, lecturer at the International Academy for Media Science.

The moderator also asked the speakers about how difficult was it for a presenter to remain unbiased during the revolution.

Sherif Amer, host and co-producer of the Daily Prime show Al Hayat Al Youm on Egyptian Hayat TV channel, stated that he has personally remained unbiased throughout the revolution.

“I followed my own constitution before and during the revolution of not bringing my emotions and opinions with me on air. Though I do not share my opinions, I did share facts. ” he added.

Youssef Al Husseiny, host of the programme Assadah Al Mohtaramoun on ON TV Channel, believes that opinions should be shared on talk shows and does so himself.

“Like how there is opinion columns in newspapers, there should be opinion talk shows on TV channels. Opinionated talk shows will then drive and encourage people to research about the topic and make their own opinion,” he said.

Amina Khairy, journalist and feature writer at Egyptian Al Hayat International Daily Newspaper, feared that opinionated talk shows will drive people to become selective and so only be open to people who share their opinion.

“I watch Youssef’s show because it shares my political views and avoid those that don’t which is dangerous because people might start only listening to one side and even attack the opposing opinion,” said Khairy

The speakers stated that the official Egyptian TV channel ignored the revolution and acted as if nothing was happening which drew the Egyptian audience towards other private channels and so many Egyptian presenters then made the shift to these channels.

Commenting on this, Al Din stated: “Many presenters moved from the official Egyptian channel to private ones. However, some became popular while others did not. This is because the Egyptian audience is smart enough to know who were actually restricted by the previous regime and those who are merely looking for a job.”

The speakers also commented on the integration of non-Egyptian presenters on TV shows and Egyptian TV shows on non-Egyptian channels.

Though most speakers welcomed having non-Egyptian presenters on Egyptian TV they were sceptical about the motives of non-Egyptian channels to host Egyptian TV shows.