Americans think of public opinion largely as a function of polls. Egyptian editors articulaate media’s role in shaping public opinion. It includes discussions on street opinion compared to Egyptian newspaper public opinion functions that may or may not influence street opinion. Points the distinguished eidtors made are extrapolated from interviews conducted by the authors. When reading this paper, do think about how we in the U.S. may have similar issues involving how the media influence public opinion. I think you may find some concerning similarities to the formation of present day public opinion in the U.S, some 20 or more years after this research. It must be noted that social media and internet online news media are now playing a significant role in shaping citizen world views in both countries. but they were not yet prevalent in 2002 Egypt. Co-author Alaa Abdel-Ghani is a long time respected editor of the major English-language Egyptian weekly newspaper Al-Ahram Weekly. Our other co-author Frederick Richter was a student of mine at the American University in Cairo, Egypt. I am the lead author and take full responsibility for the content of the paper and interpretations of the participants’ assessment of public opinion in this study.
–Peggy Bieber-Roberts, PhD, journalist, professional public opinion analyst, formerly media professor at American University in Cairo, Egypt, and retired multi-media professor from American University of Sharjah, UAE
“Egyptian News Editors’ Perceptions of Egyptian Public Opinion
on the War on Terrorism”
by
Peggy Bieber-Roberts, Alaa Abdel-Ghani and Frederik Richter
American University in Cairo, Egypt
Presented at the First World Congress for Middle East Studies
Mainz, Germany
September 2002
Introduction
This exploratory research based on preliminary interviews with Egyptian editors and managing editors examines public opinion in Egypt at a time when heightened interest around the world has focused on the Middle East region. We interviewed Egyptian official and independent newspaper editors and managing editors to hear their thoughts on the creation of public opinion in the Arab world during the current period “war on terrorism,” in the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. These individuals were selected because they are important gatekeepers who determine the information that will be accepted into their publications.
Basically, the public is dependent upon the mass media for public affairs information. This simply stated precept is the backdrop for much public opinion research in the U.S., where it is assumed that in order for Americans to become valuable members of a democratic society, robust and free media must exist, upon which citizens receive political and public affairs information necessary to make informed and rational decisions about their society. Public opinion is also defined as the aggregate of all that is thought and said on a subject, but sometimes it is considered to be merely the views of the majority, which prevails. (Janowitz and Hirsch, p. 3.) The lack of a generally accepted understanding of what we mean by the term “public opinion’ is due to the complexity of the phenomenon. (Crespi, p. X). But for our purposes, the above descriptions are applicable, and we necessarily leave the definition open and rather vague in order to accommodate public opinion in Egypt, the topic of this paper.
While in the U.S. the press is vital to the formation of an informed public and to the creation of public opinion, in developing nations and third world countries, under authoritarian systems of governance, limitations on freedom of the press diminish the effectiveness of public opinion’s role in the democratization process. High rates of illiteracy in particular add to the ineffectiveness of public opinion. How do people come to an informed understanding of crises situations when the press joins forces with the government and its dominant sources of information are provided for by the same government? The narrowing of public discourse in a developing nation like Egypt is also relevant in the U.S. Critical voices are rarely heard these days in either camp.
Over the past decades, media and Internet technologies have transformed the way many Egyptians receive political information. The proliferation of satellite distribution across the Middle East including CNN and the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, has given the middle and upper Egyptian classes access to world information that was previously unavailable.
However, the new technologies reach only those audiences who can afford to buy them. The less fortunate must rely on traditional Egyptian media. Thus government-owned radio and television are the primary news media offering Egyptian audiences perspectives from political leaders in power. These media restrictions affect the construction of public opinion.
The September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City was the first in a string of actions in which the U.S. has become more directly involved in the Middle East. These pertain to the U.S. attack on Afghanistan and the Al-Qaeda, efforts to capture Osama Bin Laden, and more recently indications that a war with Iraq is imminent. Placing the Middle East on the front stage with the world watching was the 2002 Israeli invasion of the Palestinian territories.
As these conflicts, invasions and wars emerged, Arab and U.S. media, “driven” by their respective political leaders, conducted a war on words. News media in both regions of the world used their respective nations’ rhetoric and supported the official views because they rely on government sources of information, which emanated from the political ruling elites in the Arab world and the U.S.
Currently, there are four categories of Egyptian newspapers: 1) state-owned publications (national or official press), 2) publications owned by political parties, 3) independent publications licensed in Egypt (very rare occurrence) and 4) Egyptian publications registered abroad, most commonly in Cypress. The first two groups comprise about 30 titles. The other 220, mostly independent publications registered abroad, are subject to a censor, the Foreign Publications Censor, who answers directly the Minister of Information. (Cairo Times: http://www.cairotimes.com, Sept 12, 2002). .
The differing opinions of the U.S. and the Arab world with reference to terrorism and the conflicts in the Middle East gave us an opportunity to explore the structure of public opinion in Egypt. Our explorations involve discussions with critical players in the opinion process. These are the editors and managing editors of Egyptian newspapers, which send reporters on assignment, select stories to be published, and establish the editorial tone of the publication.
Thus, this paper explores the concept of public opinion in the Arab world, focusing on the assessment by Egyptian editors, editor-in-chiefs and managing editors. Interviews with the editorial and management sections of two national press, one independent news magazine and one historical-political national journal form the basis of the paper. Important points were offered to give the reader insights into the nature of public opinion involving the ordinary citizen in Egypt. We gave our participants latitude in articulating public opinion as they perceive it to be in Egypt. Much of this paper is constituted by their thoughts and analysis, in their words.
Egyptian Newspaper Editor’s Assessment of Public Opinion
Americans do not understand public opinion in the Middle East.
Dr. Osama Harb, Editor-in-Chief of the Al-Sayassa Al-Dauwliy, an Arabic political quarterly magazine that is affiliated with the Al-Ahram government organization, expressed his astonishment at U.S. officials’ inability to understand why people think as they do in the Middle East. A political scientist, he also offered explanations as to why differences in viewpoints exist between the U.S. and Arab world exist.
Harb pointed to the fundamental differences between literate and illiterate masses. This is an important point because unlike advanced western societies, Egypt has a very high illiteracy rate, with about half the population (48%) unable to read and write. Illiteracy precludes these people from becoming informed publics, a necessary element in the formation of public opinion,
Harb also noted that developing nations lack a significant amount of organized institutions through which public opinion is channeled. “Public opinion in the UK, in Germany, in France is represented or expressed through. . .political institutions, social institutions, economic institutions…civil society, trade unions, professional syndicates, unions of students, unions of women, of youth. They express public opinion.” (Interview of Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002).
Harb explained that these organizations are at times not active and may be manipulated or controlled by government or authorities. They are often not effective in serving as the bases for public opinion formation.
In the case of Egypt, Harb believes these elements apply uniquely, according to historical periods; for example, the 1952 revolution in which Gamal Abdel-Nasser and his military compatriots established a socialist system, of which the remnants are still felt today in Egypt. Harb described the Nasser regime as “characterized by the heavy weight of the state. It was not a democratic system but mainly authoritarian.” He stated that one feature of the authoritarian system is the control of the press, control of the tools that shape public opinion: “So to some extent this public opinion is shaped by the media, by the control of civil society,” he said, pointing out that Egypt is currently making a transformation from authoritarian to a democratic system, a process that began in the 1970s..
The Nasser regime controlled the formation of pubic opinion through its media, journals, broadcasting and television. According to Harb, the Egyptian media gave Nasser analysis and opinion so the people who did not have access to the outside world did not have outside sources to add to their views but had to rely on state-controlled sources.
A leading critic of government control of the press, Cairo Times’ Managing Editor and Publisher of the independent weekly publication Hisham Qassem also described the Nasser years.
“We had a fairly vibrant press before the 1952 coup and then Nasser nationalized 90 percent of the press. Very few publications were left with licenses given to an individual and on his death the license expired. The publication had to close down. (Interview with Hisham Qassem, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002.)
President Anwar Sadat in the early 1970s realized that censorship was not an acceptable thing, according to Qassem. When Sadat cancelled censorship practices, Qassem and others set up offshore companies abroad, which resulted in the “infamous censorship on foreign publications.” He asserted that 80 percent of Egypt’s press functions this way. Called the “Cypriot Press” because they publish out of Cypress, the newspapers comprise 300 publications, according to Qassem. He described the flow of information in the Egyptian authoritarian political system.
You have state security, ministry of information, the editors themselves. They pass it (information) down to assistant and managing editors, etc. The party press gets the word and passes it down. We don’t want to encourage American antagonism, antagonism toward the U.S. (Interview with Hisham Qassem, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002).
In contrast to the Nasser years, the current population of Egyptians is exposed to a range of news and information sources, emanating from the national press, international press, satellite and internet technologies. But according to Harb, harmony among the media is lacking and consistency among the media is missing. The result is that the “ordinary man finds himself unable to know exactly or to express exactly what he wants,” leading to what Harb claims is a hindrance in forming public opinion.
…the citizen in a country like Egypt finds himself exposed to many different and even contradictory sources of information and analysis and views…without any source to make him able to assimilate this, to rationalize all of this. He sees at the same time CNN, the Egyptian television and also he may go to the mosque to see, to listen to the Imam of the mosque. And he may also read a newspaper of an opposition party. And all three are expressing very different views. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002).
Harb explains that in democratic nations, there exists a mainstream society in which agreement among citizens occurs and is based on what is happening in society, on what’s right and what’s wrong. He points out a different story in Egypt where the majority of people do not have a specific opinion, but rather vague impressions. “They are outside what we call public opinion,” he said. However, public opinion coalesces when a crisis emerges. In this case the media is unified, standing behind their governments. For example, the media, official newspapers, television from the outside, including CNN, presented the Palestinians as being harmed by the Israelis during the most recent Intifada. This is the case even in American and European channels, according to Harb. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002).
Lacking public opinion polls.
In the U.S. and western democracies, public opinion polls are numerous, offering the public collective perspectives of the public. But in Egypt, according to Hani Shukrallah, Managing Editor of the national Al-Ahram Weekly, an English language newspaper, public opinion polls are rare, and the reliability of those that are conducted is even rarer. The result is that assessment of public opinion by newspaper editors and managers is “intuitive.” Shukralla says that assessment of opinion is obtained through interviews, by talking to people, examining how people respond to television and newspaper stories. “It’s much more getting a sense on what’s the word on the street.” (Interview with Hani Shukrallah, Cairo, Egypt, April 8, 2002.)
He believes that ordinary people will get a sense from their immediate surroundings. As a journalist “you will try to look at different categories of people…university students…intellectuals and schools…people in coffee-houses…and of course there are always the taxi-driver, the source of popular wisdom.” (Interview with Hani Shukrallah, Cairo, Egypt, April 8, 2002.)
Information meltdown
Qassem said that the result of government controls of information and years of government press and broadcasting has slowly turned people away from the controlled government information machine. As a result, a pattern of “information meltdown” has happened in Egypt.
The consequence of information meltdown is that people lost their ability for sound reasoning when it comes to news, etc. So when you had the rumor that 4,000 Jews did not go to the WTC that day and there is no way anywhere in the world that 4,000 people could not enter a building. See? And even if we said that it happens and the security apparatus in the U.S. knew about it and did not take action, there is no way the American press would not have picked this up, because of competition (among media.). . .You were hearing the same rumor from illiterate people and people who had university degrees and 20 or 30 years of professional career behind them. (Interview with Hisham Qassem, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002.)
Although his paper Cairo Times is independent, Qassem adopts an opposition viewpoint, claiming that people who have been “fed lies” for years and have no credible source of information have stopped reading…hearsay and rumors take over and the ability of discerning minds that can look into stories and be analytical…but the story sounds good…and they take it wrong…know matter how realistic (the story is). (Interview with Hisham Qassem, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002.)
Career political journalist and educator Dr. Sonia Dabbous, Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the Akbar Al-Youm national newspaper, followed a parallel line of reasoning. She asserted that many of the street people are fundamentalists who listen to and believe the Friday speeches emanating from the mosques. According to Dabbous, the ordinary Egyptian is turning to the mosque for information, interpretation, and the people on the street are critical of the U.S. for not doing something more economically for them.
Lots of people who are financially in bad condition are busy trying to find something to eat, trying to find a way to get a better life, other than being readers of newspapers and listeners of television. (Interview with Dr. Sonia Dabbous, Cairo, Egypt, May 28, 2002).
The controlled information environment and readers’ alienation from the reading process in Egypt breeds rumors. Dabbous addressed the issues of rumors.
I don’t think they (Egyptians) read the newspaper. They take the newspaper from each other. And if there is a big new story, they look at it, but otherwise…(they are getting) information by mouth-to-mouth… By the time the story moves from one person to another, a lot of distortion happens because each one looks at it from his point of view, or what he believes is there. (Interview with Dr. Sonia Dabbous, Cairo, Egypt, May 28, 2002.)
According to Harb,“…in the absence of rational and sophisticated views by the elites, what prevails is the traditional way of thinking…and this is reflected in pressure from the people to the government…pressing for more.” He described the pressure in terms of protests and rumors, expressing concern that Egypt lacks the rational voice.
But criticism of ineffective public opinion was not singled out for the Arab world alone. Harb pointed out that Americans are unable to understand or perceive the deep emotions of Arabs and Muslims, stating that “Sometimes it is very interesting to me because the American (politicians) have this huge apparatus for measuring public opinion and understanding it, but for this there is a problem. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.)
Akbar Al-Youm’s Editor-in-Chief Mohamed Tantawi said that at least 90% of Egyptians are against war and want peace in the region. Tantawi also noted that Egyptians are tired of war. (Interview with Mohamed Tantawi, Cairo, Egypt, April 21, 2002.) Dabbous supports this view, articulating what she believes is a representative sentiment on the part of the Egyptian people that “we have suffered enough with war…we shouldn’t be keen on fighting.” Egyptians talk about the deteriorating situation everyday. (Interview with Dr. Sonia Dabbous, Cairo, Egypt, May 28, 2002.)
Anti-American sentiment is growing on the street.
But regardless as to where the public is receiving information, there is a growing sentiment of anti-Americanism in the Middle East. Mohamed Tantawi describes the sentiment
The Egyptian people are worried about what is happening because of the atrocities by the Israelis. We are living in a very small world concerning information. We can open the TV and hear every TV station in the world, for example Al Jazeera, NBC and all these Arabic stations. And ordinary people in cafes, they listen, they see they are following in the newspaper. Also we are carrying news, we have our correspondents. We are summarizing editorials from others papers. (Interview with Mohamed Tantawi, Cairo, Egypt, April 21, 2002).
Qassem also commented on the growing anti-American sentiment.
…for the first time I’m seeing anti-Americanism becoming entrenched. Prior to that it was feelings of anger and discontent against the military campaign unoccupied territories. I talked to my mother, a retired teacher. I talked to my boab (house guard) who says what’s going on. You sense the feeling of anger. (Interview of Hisham Qassem, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002.)
Fanaticism and black propaganda
Fanaticism was a serious concern for the editors. In an emotional moment during the interview Harb asserted that Egyptians are “with Americans” in fighting terrorism.
(Egypt) has suffered from terrorism of course …terrorism of the extreme fundamental Muslims who are very fanatic, who hate the others, who are ready to kill the others and we also suffered from those…this fanatic thinking is more dangerous than the danger of Israel. I’m sure of that, me personally! And there are many segments of society knowing that. We suffered from those fanatic groups who killed Anwar Sadat. Who killed…the Speaker of the People’s Assembly. Who killed one of the most prominent and beloved of my friends…They tried to kill Naguib Mahfouz. We know that they are a danger for our society. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.)
Tantawi sent out a word of caution to societies with troubled freedom of press situations.
If you don’t have a free press, fanaticism would go up. fanaticism and rumors. They are what we call “black propaganda. This is very bad for any government. Freedom of the press lets the people know everything. Let the people know the facts, so then you can confront black propaganda, our rumors. This is the only way. (Interview with Mohamed Tantawi, Cairo, Egypt, April 21, 2002.)
Public split on government policy toward Israel
The public is split on government policy toward Israel. While most Egyptians are committed to peace, a small minority wants Egypt to fight Israel, according to Tantawi. He also claims that in Egypt “I don’t think we will accept war unless something tragic happens.” But he also articulated the feelings of Egyptians who have been turning anti-American:
Sharon has a green light from the U.S. to commit Palestinian massacres. U.S. officials are justifying Sharon’s acts by saying that he is a man of peace, when instead Sharon is trying to accomplish peace by defeating the Palestinian terrorism. (Interview with Mohamed Tantawi, Cairo, Egypt, April 21, 2002.)
Harb is concerned that the Jewish community has succeeded in convincing Americans and the U.S. administration that the fight against terrorism is the same as the fight by the Palestinian resistance. He argued that resistance is different from terrorism.
Explaining the Arab view pertaining to the Palestinian suicide bombers, Harb describes them as desperate people.
Out of despair, out of frustration, out of losing hope, some persons have tried to make these suicide bombs. I understand, of course, I don’t accept. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.)
Harb believes the solution to terrorism is to eradicate the problem itself. In an imaginary dialog, he gives Israel a command:
Israel, if you want to do this, very simple, leave this country. Let the Palestinians have their state and everything would be okay. Because the Palestinians want to live and not feel insecure. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.)
Criticism is not just directed at Israel and the U.S. Harb recognizes that Egypt has its shortcomings in communication with the U.S. Articulating these shortcomings Harb compares Egyptian and Israeli leader actions.
“When our president goes to the U.S., he is interested in meeting with the President of America. But when the Prime Minister of Israel goes to America, he meets with those of the Jewish lobby, members of the Congress, the leaders of the pressure groups. And in the last day, he may meet with the press of America. Because he knows that in this democratic society, what makes and formulates policies is not the president. It is the society, its institutions, it is the Congress. So, he meets with them. (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.)
But there is a glimmer of hope in the problems described by the five editors and managing editors. Harb believes the solution comes from the media.
New mechanism of public opinion in these countries…dishes and satellite channels are now more and more out of the reach of government. It reaches the people directly…to the poorest villagers, who live only in one room, very simple furniture, nothing but television and satellite. If he does not have (TV), he shall go to the near café, which has a dish, and pay some money to look at it the whole day or only for some drinks and he looks at it.” (Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002)
Within the limitations of government-controlled expression, editors and managing editors are able to assess public sentiment. This occurs during protests, when letters are sent to the editor and when American companies are boycotted. They also assess people’s opinion and sentiment by talking to the people on the streets, with family members in the home and in visiting with patrons in local cafes.
SUMMARY
Public opinion formation in Egypt is a complex process, one which looking from a western democratic perspective is hard to understand. It is complicated by “black propaganda, lack of opinion polling, illiteracy, government control of the news media, lingering effects of Nasser’s authoritarian regime and colonial humiliation. Censorship of the media and limited press freedom in covering and publishing public affairs news and events creates an environment that is not conducive to the formation of consensus, an important component in the creation of the public opinion. The five press editors and managing editors interviewed in this paper agree that the process of public opinion in Egypt is largely ineffective, a process that creates “information meltdown” thus alienating the public.
They offered a number of explanations as to the nature of public opinion in Egypt referring repeatedly to the Israeli invasion of Palestinian communities, which was occurring concurrently with these interviews. These include growing anti-Americanism due to U.S. support for Israel, a shift from a desire for peace to support for the Palestinians. They expressed concern about fanaticism and black propaganda, and American’s lack of understanding of Arab opinion.
Public opinion, often referred to as street opinion in Egypt is varied depending on the disparate sources of information available to the public, including the mosques, government official press and media, independent publications and rumors on the street. The lack of cohesiveness among the various sources of information makes the formation of rational public opinion difficult, thus largely rendering official media ineffective in creating an informed population. This in turn affects the shaping of public opinion in Egypt as unique to this society. This is a situation western societies should take note in order to understand how public opinion functions in this authoritarian country, and that will generate discussion as to how different and how similar public opinion formation is across various political systems.
Bibliography
Janowitz, Morris and Hirsch, Paul (eds.) Reader in Public Opinion and Mass Communication, Third Edition. New York: The Free Press, 1981.
Crespi, Irving. The Public Opinion Process: How the People Speak. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 1997
Interview with Hisham Qassem, Cairo Times, Cairo, Egypt, April 9, 2002.
Interview with Dr. Sonia Dabbous, Akbar Al-Youm, Cairo, Egypt, May 28, 2002.
Interview with Dr. Osama Harb, Al-Sayassa Al-Dauwliya, Cairo, Egypt, April 23, 2002.
Interview with Hani Shukrallah, Cairo, Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt, April 8, 2002.
Interview with Mohamed Tantawi, Akbar Al-Youm, Cairo, Egypt, April 21, 2002.
