Egypt: Information Network

Daily News Egypt: This source is Egypt’s primary English daily independent newspaper. They have a standard newspaper format as well as the website and social media accounts on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook. They cover Egypt’s internal and international news on a daily basis. They cover politics, business, culture, sports, lifestyle. They also have a newsletter, and opinion and in focus sections. They seek to give up-to-date, objective news reporting on Egyptian affairs.

It is accessed at https://dailynewsegypt.com

I chose this source because it is a newspaper that is created in and circulated throughout Egypt itself. It is particular source is a great insight into the most important daily updates on information within Egypt. It was difficult to find a credible, authentic Egyptian newspaper in English, and Daily News Egypt delivers the exact type of dependable current information I have been seeking. A weakness of this source is that it doesn’t cover much current cultural reporting for Egyptian citizens.

Egypt Today is an Egyptian magazine that shares current news updates and lifestyle topics for Egyptians. It has news, business, sports, and art & culture sections. It contains short, to-the-point real-time news updates from Egypt in an unbiased manner. The source is updated throughout the day on the website with live news, as well as circulating monthly physical magazine editions. Egypt Today is written in English and efficiently discloses news in real-time. A downside to this website is that it has a dated website design and has a more narrow scope of topics covered in its articles than Daily News Egypt.

It is accessed at https://www.egypttoday.com

I selected this source because it has very fast news reporting’s so that I can stay up to date with the current affairs in Egypt. In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Egypt has been responding, and things are moving quickly, so it is important to have a reputable source such as this that can keep up with the shifting international news in Egypt.

E-International Relations is an independent website and academic publication that is one of the leading international relations websites in the world written in English. It is owned by UK-based non-profit E-IR Publications Ltd. It is updated daily with articles by various authors on a daily basis. Its articles and essays are written by academics in the field of international relations.

It is accessed at https://www.e-ir.info

I chose this source because it gives a broad and objective outlook on current international relations. This source excels at lending an academic and historical context to the current news offerings that it has. The primary weaknesses of E-International are that many of the authors have a Western bias, and the publications of Egyptian news are not as frequent as desired when researching the country.

Mada Masr is a media organization based in Egypt. It is circulated in both Arabic and English. This Cairo-based source is updated on a daily basis by journalists and business developers. It covers topics such as news, economy, politics, opinion, lifestyle, society, culture, panorama and cartoon.

It is accessed at https://www.madamasr.com/en

I selected this source because it is a source that gives deeper insights and analysis with a cultural perspective to the news. It contains the perspective of journalists from a wide array of expertise and its articles dive deep into their respective topics, rather than solely conveying news to its audience alone. The strengths of the source are its wide range of topic coverage and its critical insights that are shared with its reporting’s. On the other hand, this site is extremely critical of the current Administration and the Egyptian Government and is strongly biased to the left.

Egyptian Streets: This is a “new media” source based in Egypt and staffed by Egyptian journalists written in English. It is updated through article postings on a daily basis. This source is focused primarily on the cultural aspects of Egyptian news. Politics & society, opinion pieces, arts & culture, business & technology, travel, and buzz are the sections that are covered on this site.

It is accessed at https://egyptianstreets.com

I chose this source because it is important to be informed on the cultural happenings within Egypt in tandem with the standard news reporting’s that mainstream news sources share. It contains valuable information and opinion pieces from Egyptian people and journalists who are experiencing life within the country. Its weaknesses are that it isn’t as efficient in responding to current events in Egypt as well as its overall tone being left leaning and slightly biased.

Amnesty International is an international news source dedicated to advocating for human rights in various countries. Independent of political or cultural ideologies, Amnesty International is a collaborative movement that seeks to shed light on human rights violations. It was founded in the UK but now is based in various countries throughout the world. This source delivers news, reearch, education, campaigns and various other sections through its online site and social media platforms. It is primarily in English. The posts are updated daily on a regional level, with the charity having bases in 70 countries.

It is accessed at https://www.amnesty.org/en

This is an optimal source in my research of Egypt due to its tracking of many human rights violations that occur within the country. It is an excellent source for objective, insightful, and credible reporting in this area. However, a setback that Amnesty International has is that it isn’t specific to Egyptian reporting’s as well as the fact that it only covers human rights related topics.

Frontline Defenders: This is an international new media source with the aim of protecting human rights defenders at risk. It was founded in Dublin and currently has regionally based offices including in the Middle East. It is available in English, French, and Arabic. The source is updated on a case-by-case basis, focusing on gathering intelligence and providing resources regarding human rights activists around the world whose rights and/or freedom of speech is being threatened.

It is accessed at  https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en

I chose this source due to its coverage of specific and in-depth reporting’s on journalists and human activists at risk. This is a huge topic for concern in Egypt currently, and this source does an excellent job at briefing its audience with key details on specific activists and their current situations. It is valuable to those trying to learn more about Egypt due to this relevance. The weaknesses of Frontline Defenders are the fact that it has a narrow scope of coverage and that it is more so focused on movement aid than solely reporting news.

United Nations Egypt, or @UNEgypt on Twitter is a social media source that focused on human rights news in Egypt. It is run by the United Nations and shares in both Arabic and English. It is regularly updated with Tweets although not always daily. United Nations and development news in Egypt are the primary focus of this source. Things such as climate change, human rights statuses, and individual stories are shared by United Nations Egypt, although from a largely Western perspective.

It is accessed at https://twitter.com/UNEgypt

I selected this source because it addresses very relevant topics in Egypt from a globalist, humanitarian perspective. Its primary audience Is Egyptian people, which is important to follow and observe to gain a better perspective of the current status of development in Egypt from a source that focuses on humanitarianism rather than politics. The weaknesses of this source are that it could be updated more, share more tweets, and interact with Egyptian citizens more on Twitter rather than solely sharing news through it.

Al Ahram is a social media source that is run and funded by the Egyptian government and based in Cairo. IT is updated daily with tweets regarding the latst Egyptian political news. It is in Arabic but can be translated to English.  

It is accessed at https://twitter.com/AlAhram

I selected Al Ahram because it is a direct reporting of Egyptian news from the official government. This has strengths such as being internationally recognized, and highly topical. Its drawbacks are that the Egyptian government is corrupt in many ways including concerns over repressing freedom of speech which is wholly ignored by this source. There also may be translating errors because Twitter translation technology is not always 100% accurate.

Cairo Scene is a Twitter news account that shares and investigates controversy and conversations in Egypt. It is an Egyptian-based source that is in English and updated through daily Tweets. It is part of the MO4 Network, which is also based in Cairo.

It is accessed at https://twitter.com/cairoscene

I selected Cairo Scene due to its broad reporting’s on not only politics in Egypt, but also culture, lifestyle, and other categories. It is an independent source and thus has unbiased reporting’s on the current news in Egypt. Strengths of this source are that It updates frequently and objectively. Cons to this source are that it focuses largely on cultural topics that may not be as relevant to my research on the country, as well as the fact that each Tweet is only 140 characters at length, so the news is delivered briefly.

The Inside Story is an English podcast produced by the Qatari government-funded media site Al Jazeera. A top news story is discussed by Al Jazeera journalists each day. The Inside Story focuses much on migration, political economics in the Middle East, and has been covering the impacts of the Russian/Ukrainian conflict and its global ramifications.

It is accessed at https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story

I decided to use this source due to Al Jazeera being a source that covers the Middle East and features Egyptian news often. The podcast episodes are short, comprehensible, succinct, and delivers the most important news and its relevance in the region. The main weakness of this podcast is due to Al Jazeera being a government run podcast, there is a conservative political bias to the news that is shared.

Ahram Online is a TV broadcast source that is sponsored by the Egyptian government. It is based in Egypt and offered in both English and Arabic. It covers topics such as business, opinion, world news, life and style, arts and culture, and sports among others. It is updated daily with live broadcasting from Cairo covering this range of topics.

It is accessed at  https://english.ahram.org.eg

I believe this source is useful to those studying Egypt because of the breadth and frequency of its reporting’s. It is a strong source for non-political reporting’s. A caveat of this source is the fact that it is run by Egypt’s government which selectively shares news that casts them in a favorable light, and it does not cover and issues regarding the wrongdoings of the current administration.

Nogoum FM is an Egyptian-based radio show that airs in both English and Arabic. This source is an independent radio station that plays current news, talk, information, and Arabic Contemporary music. This source runs daily and is updated by its production team and hosts.

It is accessed at https://streema.com/radios/Nogoom_FM

This source is highly objective, solely relaying current news in Egypt. Its strengths are that it brings very current news reporting due to it being broadcast live as well as its offering in English, which is rare to find. Its weaknesses are that it doesn’t air news that could get it flagged by the Egyptian government such as talking about human rights violations. Additionally, it plays music as well as the news so there is a finite amount of time dedicated to reporting information. Despite this, it is a valuable source for those studying Egypt due to its cultural insights and accessibility.

Egypt Data Portal is a data source that shares. This source is completely objective, sharing data sets for agriculture, education, finances, industry, health, investment, labor, and national accounts for Egypt available in the English and Arabic languages. It also shares important data catalogs and census data for the nation. It is run by the Egyptian government and updated from data that is collected publicly.

It is accessed at https://egypt.opendataforafrica.org

I elected to use this source because it has a wide purview of data sets and demographics specific to Egypt. The data is highly comprehensive, and contains important information for those attempting to understand and analyze Egypt’s population, recent history, and population. A weakness that I have observed is that the website is difficult to navigate, and it is often difficult to find updated information in many of the data sets from the past few years.

Freedom House is an American data source website focused on research and policy analysis internationally. It is an English language independent non-profit organization. The source is updated through research intervals fairly frequently and presents up to date data information. Data and information regarding analysis, and advocacy. It seeks to provide U.S. leadership against human rights abuses.

It is accessed at  https://freedomhouse.org/country/egypt/freedom-net/2021

I chose this source because it shares detailed analysis of the Press Freedom issues occurring within Egypt. The pros of this source are the updated data and research. The cons of this source are the American left-leaning bias and the lack in scope of topics covered.

African Development Bank Group is a data source website that reports in Africa and the Middle East. It is an English site focused on delivering data and news on a country-by-country basis in Africa. There are many sectors such as agriculture, climate change, and development. It is originated by the African Member countries of the Bank Group and reports data on economic endeavors in most countries in the continent. The source is updated multiple times a year as new information comes in and is analyzed.

It is accessed at  https://www.afdb.org/en/countries/north-africa/egypt/

This source has a globalist, pro-capitalist perspective. The strengths of the source are that is focuses entirely on data points in Egypt and it is easily navigated. The negative aspects of this site are that the website is somewhat dated and the sources aren’t consistently accessible.

Egypt Oil and Gas News: This source is an English news source based in Egypt. It covers real-time reprintings on Egypt oil and gas news, features, reports, events, issues, and concession maps. This source also has live television broadcasting. This source is highly objective, and focuses on sharing information on Egyptian stocks, political economy, and many other topics directly related to its oil and gas.

It is accessed at https://egyptoil-gas.com

I chose this source because given the recent events with Russia and Ukraine, who are major suppliers of oil and gas for Egypt, tracking this is very imperative. There has been a significant supply and price distortion in Egypt as a direct result of this crisis. Due to this source being primarily concerned with oil and gas, the only weakness that I have observed is its lack of coverage of more broad news reporting’s that aren’t directly economic.

The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy is a non-profit news sours focused on transparent policy reporting. It is based in the United States, with partners in regions throughout the world and many journalists and academics collaboratively reporting. It is in English and updated several times a month.

It is accessed at https://timep.org

I chose this source due to its internationalist perspective. It does an excellent job at analyzing complex policy in Egypt and Middle Eastern nations’ policies. The weakness of this source is that it comes from a Western perspective, and it doesn’t have a regional base in Egypt. It is a valuable source from a policy standpoint.

RSF: Reporters Without Borders is a primarily data source website focused on analyzing and critiquing the freedom of the press in every country. It is written in English and based in Paris, France. It is an independent NGO that is updated on a regular basis by its administration and publication teams.

It is accessed at https://rsf.org/en

This is an excellent source because the World Press Freedom Index is an insightful data source for Egypt. It offers specific data points and analysis for the freedom of the press in Egypt. The weakness of this source is that it doesn’t have a base in Egypt. The strengths of this source are its independent status and its up to date data.

Process notes [for initial draft due 3/13]

I began my search with the library guide through the OSU library link for Global Information. I also used Google search to aid in my research for sources and the credibility of each one. Going through the library databases proved to be extremely tedious since Egypt is an African nation with Arabic as its primary language. Looking through long sets of broad data or information sources did not work well for me because it was like finding a needle in a haystack to find relevant information about Egypt. Specifically, much of the information that I would encounter about Egypt would be regarding Ancient Egypt and Egyptian history rather than current events.

Through my continued research for this class, I have found just how skewed the amount of information we have about countries on the internet is. The Global South, particularly African nations such as Egypt are notably more difficult to find information. This is a huge barrier to the global information society, especially that of nations that do not primarily speak English. Moving forward in my research, I intend to dive deeper into sources that are written and shared through journalists who reside in Egypt. I also plan to further utilize the library resources and find a more adequate database that contains more information specifically pertaining to my country.