The Democracy Function: How Egypt’s Changing Media Landscape is Influencing Domestic Politics

Media in Egypt has long been under tight government control. Over the past decade, however, the landscape has been changing rapidly with the arrival first of private satellite television, then independent and non-partisan newspapers, and finally, the internet and new media. Despite vigorous and determined suppression, it has become increasingly difficult to stem the growing tide of free speech. The result has been a surge of political activism, fueled to a great extent by both access to information and the ability to disseminate it.

The Saban Center at Brookings’ Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World was pleased to host Ford Foundation Visiting Fellow Mirette F. Mabrouk to talk about the changing landscape of Arab media, and its effect on Egyptian domestic politics. Mirette Mabrouk is editor-at-large with the American University in Cairo Press, founding publisher of The Daily News Egypt, and a frequent commentator in the Arab press.