Egyptian Streets: How one Journalists Vision is Shaping a Country
January 2011: a month that will forever go down in Egypt’s history. The Egyptian Revolution was in full swing, with throngs of youth banning together through protests, media, and demonstrations to take down the oppressive rule of President Hosni Mubarak. These mobilization efforts were effective, as Mubarak resigned less than a month later on February 11, 2011. However, despite this success, distress still remains within the nation, leaving citizens in an incessant state of unpredictability.
The problems of Egypt are complicated ones. While the 2011 revolution has ceased, violence, political turbulence, and crackdowns on political dissent still strain the nation. Specifically regarding the media, the Egyptian government continually holds control over much of the journalism that is circulated within the country. In fact, this control is so evident that the World Press Freedom Index ranks Egypt as 161 out of 179 countries, labeling it as “one of the world’s biggest prisons for journalists.” Strict government expectations limit media within the nation, with many of the laws requiring that journalists only print the official government approved version of the news. Due to these oppressive laws, internet media is seen as the only place left where independent news media can circulate, but even then, citizens still risk imprisonment.
Despite the risks of reporting true and unedited news, one student saw an assignment in one of his college courses as a way to promote change in the country that he loved. Mohamed Khairat is a man of many cultures. Within his life he has lived in five countries: the Netherlands (where he was born), Israel, Jordan, Australia, and Egypt. Despite this diversity, to him Egypt holds a special place within his heart. In an email interview with me, Khairat explained his love for Egypt, saying, “Egypt is a place where I had some my best memories,” emphasizing the country’s high regard for family. However, though he recognizes Egypt for its strengths, he also understands Egypt’s unfortunate realities.
In 2012, Khairat was working toward a Media and Communication as well as an International Studies degree at the University of Melbourne when a course assignment inspired him to create a blog. The blog, which he titled Egyptian Streets, was mostly just a collection of his own thoughts on the events that were occurring in Egypt. However, after a trip back to Egypt in December 2012, Khairat realized that there was so much happening on the streets that individuals overseas and within the nation didn’t have the opportunity to learn about. This epiphany led him to start a Facebook page for Egyptian Streets, where he gained esteem for reporting on the 2013 protests and overthrow of Egyptian president, Mohamed Morsi. Within a week of his reporting, Khairat’s page jumped from 3,000 followers to a staggering 30,000. From there, his blog began to grow until March 2014 when he turned Egyptian Streets into a media organization.
Since then, Egyptian Streets has reported on topics of all kinds, especially focusing on the environment, political, and social issues within Egypt. These stories, which are often seen as controversial to many Egyptians, have even gotten attention by major news outlets like Huffington Post and The Daily Mirror, who have cited their articles. Most notably, one of their stories written by Mohamed himself, showcased a video of a woman walking down the streets of Egypt being harassed and touched inappropriately. This was so significant since women’s issues within the Egyptian news are heavily underreported. In fact, according to Global Media Monitoring Reports 2010, only 27 percent of media interviews involve women. Since then, Egyptian Streets has even partnered with “Dignity Without Boarders,” a campaign that aims to end sexual terrorism within Egypt.
Despite the good work Egyptian Streets is doing to help the people of Egypt, the very people it caters to often causes it challenges. According to Khairat, in the same email interview, the majority of repression Egyptian Streets receives comes from “the people and the media environment itself.” He states that many Egyptians have a problem with the media he produces, as they believe it gives Egyptians a bad reputation with the topics the site decides to publish. This, Khairat believes, is the biggest obstacle they face: self-censorship. However, despite this, Khariat has no intention of stopping anytime soon, stating, “If we can even make a single reader think twice about a belief they so strongly feel, then we’ve succeeded.”
Overall, the success of Egyptian Streets has not only made an impact within country of Egypt, but worldwide. In the future, Mohamed hopes that “Egyptian Streets continues to inspire people to take action and to change the accepted realities.” He also states that the acts of kindness he’s seen as a result of his work make all the struggles worthwhile.
Though Egypt is a country with several problems both economically and socially, it also is filled with people who overcome daily hardships and persevere through adversity. Egyptian Streets and the journalists within it, prove that despite these issues, Egypt still has some good.
