The Egyptian media has “misrepresented” the “thugs” who caused injuries and destruction as they tried to storm a Muslim Brotherhood office as “victims” in the incident. That’s the claim made by leading columnist Fahmi Howeidi who condemned media bias as a great threat to society. Such bias, he insisted, damages the profession of journalism and presents a distorted picture of reality.
Commenting in Al-Shorouk newspaper on the events at the movement’s office last Friday in the Moqattam area of Cairo, Howeidi said, “Most privately-owned satellite TV channels gave air time to the people who perpetrated the violence at Moqattam; those who defended the building were not present in the discussions.”
According to such programmes, he added, the demonstrators were forced to defend themselves against an attack by members of the Muslim Brotherhood’s youth wing in front of the group’s headquarters. “This,” he insisted, “was simply not true.”
He stressed that the media in general and television in particular are the most dangerous weapons threatening the Egyptian Revolution, and through which a counter-revolution can erupt with resultant chaos.