Egypt Media Minister’s ‘Offended Remarks’ Arousing Journalists’ Hackles
A state of rage has been erupted among the journalists in Egypt after the country’s Minister of Information Salah Abdel Maqsoud has insulted one of the female reporter from Hoqook.com on Saturday when she was asking him a worrisome question “where does the freedom of media lie in Egypt exactly?” The minister replied by saying “Come in and I’m gonna tell you where it’s?” The reply was very unexpectedly offending which undoubtedly carries sexual implicit connotations.
Consequently, a wide number of angry journalists announced their solidarity with the reporter stating that they will stage a march outside the headquarters of the Syndicate of Journalists on Tuesday, April 16 at 12:00 noon (10:00 GMT).
The journalists said the Egyptian minister had outraged the modesty of the reporter Nada Mohamed giving her an inappropriate answer, reflecting an unprecedented act which the media climate in Egypt has never witnessed before.
“In fact, the Minister has insulted the press institution as a whole not just Nada whom we should show our solidarity with.” One of the journalists said.
The journalists further added that their march aims to convince the syndicate so as to file a lawsuit against the minister of information for insulting the whole press institution in Egypt.
It is worth noting that this was not the first controversial incident Abdel Maqsoud has gone through. Last October, the minister had an interview with the Syrian interviewer Zeina Yazigi, host of “The Arab Street,” which went turbo viral when she told Abdel Maqsoud they’d be airing journalists’ views, to which he replied: “I hope they’re not as hot as you.”
The beautiful, dignified and very professional Yazigi retorted: “No, my questions are hot. I’m cold. In fact they’re the Arab Street’s questions, Your Excellency.”
His counter-reply was: “I welcome it. My bosom is open.”
Salah Abdul-Maqsoud has been a journalist since 1979, where he worked on a number of Islamist magazines including Egyptian Dawa al-Bashir (1985), The Banner of Islam (1987 and 1994) and Harvest of Thought (1992), in addition to writing frequently for the Muslim Brotherhood’s online website. He has been a member of the Supreme Council for Journalism and the Union of Journalists over the past 16 years. He was also appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Radio and Television Union and was a prominent member of Dr. Mohamed Morsi’s presidential election campaign. He was appointed Egyptian Information Minister in August 2012.
