On Sunday, a week after President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi issued a decree reshuffling the membership of Egypt’s media regulatory institutions, their new heads were sworn in before parliament.

Khaled Abdel-Aziz, 65, a former minister of youth and sports, is the new head of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR), replacing veteran journalist Karam Gabr.

Ahmed Al-Moslemani, 54, was sworn in as the new head of the National Media Authority (NMA), replacing Hussein Zein, while Abdel-Sadek Al-Shorbagi, 63,who also took an oath before parliament, will retain his post as head of the National Press Authority (NPA).

The decree stipulates that the leaders of the three media institutions will serve four-year terms.

The selection of Abdel-Aziz as SCMR chair took media circles by surprise, despite the former minister of youth holding a degree in mass communications from Cairo University.

On Sunday, Abdel-Aziz vowed to improve the SCMR’s performance to meet the growing challenges facing the media sector, and to work in coordination with public and private institutions to amplify the voice of Egypt’s media around the world.

According to Article 68 of the 2014 constitution, the SCMR is an independent body — technically, administratively, and financially — mandated to oversee print, audiovisual, and digital media.

Days before leaving his role as SCMR head, journalist Gabr said that “one of the main challenges facing the SCMR in the coming period will be to stand up to malicious rumours targeting Egypt spread by TV channels, websites, and digital platforms owned by the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood.”

Gabr also pointed out that the SCMR has sole authority to license new newspapers, magazines, websites and TV channels, and supervises all media outlets, investigating complaints and releasing an annual report on media conditions in Egypt.

Supervision of the editorial, administrative, and financial performance of national press organisations, meanwhile, falls to the NPA, which also oversees the appointment of board chairmen and editors-in-chief.

Al-Shorbagi, 63, whose role in helping stabilise the financial positions of Egypt’s national press organisatons has been lauded, told parliamentary reporters on Sunday that he will complete NPA plans to improve the finances of state-owned press organisations by optimizing the use of their assets “while simultaneously improving editorial content”.

Responding to a question on the future of national publications, Al-Shorbagi said: “We want for them to be profitable and attractive to readers, to which end we have the option of either merging two or three publications into one, or else modernising publications on a title-by-title basis.”

Al-Shorbagi also said that while “most commercial debts owed by national press organisations have now been settled we still face the challenge of paying tax and insurance arrears.”

In January, Al-Shorbagi told the Senate that the debts owed by national press organisations to the tax and insurance authorities reached LE9 billion in 2023.

The selection of Al-Moslemani as NMA head was welcomed in media circles, with TV hostess Omnia Makram arguing that his appointment would positively impact state-run radio and television.

“Al-Muscleman is a liberal-minded journalist and prominent TV host who strongly believes in media freedom,” said Macramé.

The NMA is responsible for supervising the affairs of Egypt’s state-owned television and radio which Makram says have passed through lean times in recent years as “private TV channels have grown, with businessmen spending lavishly on them.”

Al-Moslemani told reporters on Sunday that “his main task as new head of the NMA is to rebuild state TV and radio’s soft power and influential role in Egypt and the Arab world.”

A graduate of Cairo University’s Faculty of Economy and Political Sciences, he joined Al-Ahram’s Centre for Political and Strategic Studies in 1992before moving to Dream channel where he presented the popular current affairs programme “First Edition”, noted for its criticism of policies followed by the then president Hosni Mubarak. This led some to describe Al-Moslemani as “the Voltaire of Egypt’s 2011 Revolution”.

When Adli Mansour took over as Egypt’s interim president in July 2013, he selected Al-Moselmani as his media advisor and spokesman.

The SCMR, NPA, and NMA are also getting new boards of directors. The SCMR board’s new members include deputy head of the State Council Abdel-Salam Al-Naggar, Chairman of the Competition Authority Mahmoud Momtaz, deputy head of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority Hossam Saqr, former head of Al-Ahram Press Establishment Abdel-Mohsen Salama, and media figures Adel Hammouda, Essam Al-Amir, Ola Al-Shafei, and Mona Al-Hadidi.

The NPA board includes Deputy Chairman of the State Council Mohamed Ammar, Deputy Finance Minister Yasser Sobhi, and journalists Alaa Thabet, Amr Al-Khayat, Hamdi Rizk, Sameh Mahrous, Osama Abu Basha, and Sahar Al-Gaara.

The NMA board comprises Deputy Chairman of the State Council Hammad Makram, Deputy Finance Minister Khaled Ibrahim, deputy head of the National Telecom Regulatory Authority Walid Zakaria, and media experts Osama Kamal, Reham Al-Deeb, Hala Hasheesh, Sami Saadon, and Safeya Youssef.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 5 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly