Mada Masr

Mada Masr (Arabic: مدى مصر‎‎) is an independent Egyptian online newspaper, founded in June 2013 by former journalists of the English-language newspaper Egypt Independent following the shutting down of its editorial operations in April 2013.

History

Cover of the final edition of Egypt Independent

Egypt Independent was a weekly, 24-page English-language newspaper that had evolved from the English web edition of the newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm. Its first edition was published on 24 November 2011.

In December 2011, the second edition of the newspaper was prevented from being printed, following internal censorship of an article written by political scientist Robert Springborg which was critical of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces.

In April 2013, the editorial team was informed by the management of Al-Masry Media Corporation that their print and online news operation will be shut down. The editorial team decided to put together a closing edition, which would have been published on 25 April, "to explain the conditions under which a strong voice of independent and progressive journalism in Egypt is being terminated". However, the management decided in the last minute to withhold the printing of the final edition, so the editorial team decided to publish it online.

Founding of Mada Masr

On 30 June 2013, Mada Masr published its first issue.

In the first article published, the editorial team described the planning process for the launch: "We decided we want to publish in Arabic as well as English, that we want to see more data-based reports, more investigative journalism. We want to experiment with different ways of storytelling. And very importantly, develop a business model and deploy a visionary commercial team that helps make our work sustainable."

The article also described how the editorial team arrived at the name: "It needed a name. An Arabic name that was easy to say in English, but one that also reflected our practice of independent, progressive journalism. After a long process, we came to Mada. It is the Arabic word for range, scope or span, but it's also the spot where a stone is placed on a ring, a symbol of taking a position."

The article concluded with: "Today Mada Masr is born amid many challenges and uncertainties. But it's also born out of inevitability. It is the inevitability of rebuilding a home for our team and our practice, the inevitability of a different form of journalism, the inevitability of experimentation and adventure as the only gateway for our imagination to strive."

Since then, Mada Masr published a number of articles on different topics such as politics, economy, environment, culture and lifestyle, and some of their articles on current affairs in Egypt were referenced by international news media. As an example, an article by Sarah Carr about the political movement The Third Square was quoted extensively in a New York Times blog article about the subject.

Freedom of press in Egypt

In July 2013, an article by the Associated Press about media bias in Egypt following the military coup quoted Lina Atallah, editor-in-chief of Mada Masr, as saying that there was increased pressure on journalists to toe the line, pointing to the coverage of protester killings, which repeated the military's version of the violence. "What's scary about this time around in the media performance is that there is much more agenda-setting from above," she said.

External links

• 15px Mada Masr web site
• Egypt Independent final edition