SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis investigates the political economy of Egypt’s media system during the neoliberal transition that saw the beginnings of locally produced private broadcast outlets and the reintroduction of Egyptian private newspaper publications. It is an examination of power and capital for a sector that was at a distinctive intersection of political sensitivity and commercial promise. Privately-owned local television and print outlets burst onto the scene at the turn of the 21st century. For the following two decades, Egypt experienced the emergence of politically empowered businessmen amid a marked liberalization drive, followed by massive socio-political changes sparked by the Arab Spring, and then a return to an autocratic, military-led regime. Developments in Egypt’s media system during these changes showed high levels of political and economic parallelism. However, some of the structural shifts that occurred in the sector were not accompanied with institutional adjustments in the underlying approach that the state had been taking towards mass media for decades. As a result, private mass media development in Egypt was constantly fragmented and inconsistent. Policies governing the industry were often reactive, and dependent on ‘national security’ considerations. Factors that played into the early growth in the sector were quite circumstantial, contributing to the volatility outlined over the course of the research. Yet the sector still managed to be a prominent element in the country’s transforming tapestry.