The status of journalism in a country reflects the values of its society, and particularly its political environment. It is impossible to be assessed away from its local sociopolitical and economic context. Although, on average, most Western societies spend 2% to 3% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development, Arab states dedicate only 0.06%. Hence, it is not surprising perhaps that journalism in Egypt is at a low ebb despite decades of trying to find its niche within the university scholarly environment since the Open Door Policy was initiated by late President Sadat in the 1970s.
The status of journalism in a country reflects the values of its society, and particularly its political environment. It is impossible to be assessed away from its local sociopolitical and economic context. Although, on average, most Western societies spend 2% to 3% of their gross domestic product (GDP) on research and development, Arab states dedicate only 0.06%. Hence, it is not surprising perhaps that journalism in Egypt is at a low ebb despite decades of trying to find its niche within the university scholarly environment since the Open Door Policy was initiated by late President Sadat in the 1970s.
The political haze and social confusion that characterize journalism education in Egypt can be ascribed to a continuous process of legitimizing coercion, political “PR-ization” of the media, and the use of social taboos to block investigative reporting and the promotion of a bold journalism educational system. This perplexing situation has led to contrasting odds and vicious circles of liberalization and deliberalization.
In many occasions, policy makers in the Higher Education Sector cause a brain drain of skilled educators on one hand, and foreign management of educational institutes on the other hand lack any understanding of the socio-political and economic context in Egypt subconsciously direct the whole journalism education arena into a real chaos. As both sides choose contacts with whom they feel comfortable working, and usually as culturally close to them as possible, also people sharing the same world views. As a result, many departments and schools of journalism education became a place for hopeless or desperate students who learn nothing, or just old fashioned approaches. And the rest of the get the licence to work in Egypt without working engaging with the local culture, language and country, causing the students to think that their degrees are enough to work, but when they face the sad reality, they realize very late that the money they have spent was not worth it. Of course, this is not the case all the time, yet it has become almost the case everywhere.
