Reforming the media is an urgent part of the democratisation called for by Egypt’s 25 January revolution. Cairo University’s Faculty of Mass Communication has therefore made it a priority to assess different options for a democratic system of media and communication in Egypt. In order to develop a model that enables a free flow of information and opinions in and out of Egypt and among all sectors of Egyptian society, the Faculty has taken the initiative of organising a consultation event in Cairo in collaboration with the University of Westminster’s Arab Media Centre, a research subgroup of the university’s Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI).
The event will begin on March 30th 2011 with a one-day open conference. Contributions are invited, at very short notice, from scholars and practitioners who wish to take part by drawing on their existing research or experience to make short presentations on topics related to the following themes:
- Lessons of previous democratisations
- Enabling the environment for free, independent, pluralistic, decentralized and responsible media
- Legal frameworks for the media
- Establishing and sustaining public service media
- Transformation of state-owned media into democratic media in Egypt
- Telecoms, Internet services and citizen empowerment
- Social, economic and cultural requirements for democratic media
Speakers at the conference on March 30th will then be invited to join a discussion workshop on March 31st at which international experts recruited by the two universities, Cairo and Westminster, will focus on specific issues relating to the themes listed above.
Please send a 150-word outline of your proposed presentation, together with your name, affiliation, email and postal address and brief biographical note to Professor Basyouni Hamada at Cairo University ([email protected]) and Professor Naomi Sakr at the University of Westminster ([email protected]), to reach them by March 14th 2011 at the latest. Selected participants will be notified by March 17th. There is no registration fee for this event but, because of the short notice, there is also no outside funding. It is hoped that, in the circumstances, individual participants will be funded by their own institutions as a signal of support to Egypt’s democratisation.