Blank columns: Egyptian writers protest editorial appointments

Several Egyptian journalists have left their columns blank in daily papers to protest the appointments by the upper house of parliament of 50 new editors for state-owned publications. Many of the newly -appointed editors are known for their Islamist views.

“The space is white to protest against attempts by the Brotherhood to impose its control over the press and media belonging to the Egyptian people,” wrote al-Watan which, along with Al-Masry Al-Youm and Al-Tahrir, did not publish editorials.

Instead of their pieces in Thursday’s editions of independent newspapers, the columnists wrote short notes explaining their protest and denouncing what they describe as the Brotherhood’s attempt to control the state-owned press.

The upper house is dominated by Islamists, mostly from President Mohammed Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The fundamentalist group has complained about negative press coverage, both of the Brotherhood and of Mursi.

The upper house, known as the Shura Council, is formally the owner of the country’s state press, including such flagship publications as the dailies al-Ahram and al-Akhbar. This followed the practice under the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, assuring that his now-defunct National Democratic Party would keep a firm grip on who ran the state-owned press.

The journalists’ union has protested against that practice and also against a recent act by Information Minister Salah Abdel Maqsud, a member of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party.

Maqsud had taken issue with the fact that an Israeli commentator was interviewed by telephone on state television. He promised an investigation into how this could have come about and promised that it would not happen again.