Recently a decision was taken by the Cypriot press office causing panic on the Egyptian media front. Many publications are now faced with a sudden change of plans as they are faced with the possibility of losing their Cypriot licenses. Readers now question whether their favoured journals will have an upcoming issue?
A recent decision by the Cypriot press office is causing the Egyptian media to panic. Many publications are now forced to make critical decisions as the possibility of having their licenses revoked looms near. Insight spoke to Hisham Kassem of Cairo Times to get his take on this recent development.
Last month the Cypriot press office surprised everyone when it declared that it will revoke all licenses given to Egyptian publications if they do not start complying with the rules. The two rules in contention are: 1) off-shore Cypriot licensed publications must start printing in Cyprus, and 2) they must submit a copy of each issue to the Cypriot press office.
Panic prevailed in response to this declaration as more than 1,000 publications are licensed from Cyprus. Among these are very successful publications, one of which is Cairo Times, a weekly tabloid. Hisham Kassem, publisher of the Cairo Times, sounded calm during an interview with Egypt’s Insight magazine. He said, “I had known for some time that things were getting very chaotic on the Cypriot-Egyptian front.”
His publication is now faced with a warning from Cyprus that it will withdraw the publication’s license in September if it does not comply. Kassem said he doesn’t understand how they can ask off shore publications to print inside Cyprus. “I’m an offshore magazine, I’m not supposed to even come near Cyprus, I have no permission to print there!” Kassem added “the Cypriot press office said that only ten publications are complying with the rules, then obviously the problem is on the Cypriot side,” he explained.
Based on Kassem’s immediate response to the situation, it appears that his several years of industry experience have served him well. He was in Alexandria when he received word of the Cypriot crisis and immediately returned to Cairo to proceed with paper work for a new license. As a publisher of what might be considered a controversial magazine, Kassem learned to always have plan B in his back pocket. “In this business you’ve got to sleep with only one eye open,” he said. That is why he chose not to wait for any explanations from the Cypriot side, “I’m not going to bother to wait around. In 15 days maximum I will have my new license from Delaware in the United States of America,” he confirmed.
According to Kassem, he had originally tried to stay away from the United States to avoid accusations of U.S. bias. Kassem said, “I knew that if I had a license from the United States that I’d have people telling me that I’m working for the U.S. government, but now I have no choice.” Kassem explained that the reason he turned to the United States is “because over there if something like this happens I can take them to court and sue them for a large sum of money.”
Other publications facing the same dilemma include Cleo, a social monthly publication issued by Allied Publishers. Shafik Gabr, Chairman of Allied Publishers and ARTOC Group , declined comment and said he could not talk about it until the situation becomes clearer. Also, Yasmine Shihata, the Editor-in-Chief of Enigma Magazine, also licensed in Cyprus, was not available for comment.
Despite the major drawbacks to such a decision, Kassem understands why the Cypriot press office took such a decision. “Getting a license from Cyprus has become like a micro-bus service stop. There is no blue print for the Egyptian-Cypriot front,” he said.
Even though the Cairo Times will not have a problem with such a decision, other publications might face the possibility of a shut down. “The problem with publications in places like Dakahlia and other governorates is that they probably do not have a backup plan, therefore, they are panicking now,” said Kassem.
Almost one thousand publications had to confront this situation over night. Their immediate response was to search for a new place to obtain their license from, Egypt wasn’t one of those choices.