29 April -05 May 2013 - orsam

Ezzat Naiem, founder of the Zabaleen rights NGO Spirit of the Youth, elaborates on Mansy‘s point,
saying the key ingredient is ―care.‖
―Although I know in journalism there is supposed to be a professional distance between journalists
and the subject matter, covering issues related to the Zabaleen — not sensationally, as with the
documentary ‗Zabaleen Dreams‘ — requires persistence over long periods of time, with the
knowledge that there is little positive gain. I believe this requires real care in the matter,‖ Naiem says.
Amr Ali, managing director of Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Association,
has been a strong supporter of Egypt Independent.
―I must emphasize the importance of environmentalism journalism in Egypt, although I don‘t agree
with calling it environmental journalism. This type of journalism has greatly helped isolated activist
groups around the country raise awareness of the important issues Egypt is facing with regard to
natural resources — issues that few people were aware of before,‖ he says.
Ali says the environmental focus helped nonprofits pressure authorities.
―It helped greatly by quickly building public contempt toward certain topics, allowing for groups to
put pressure on those responsible,‖ he says. ―However, secondly, and more importantly, is the
constant effort of this type of journalism to expose instances of corruption in the most unlikely of
places — places that people were largely completely unaware of after the revolution.‖
Ali adds that in a country after a major uprising or revolution, ―it usually takes years of education to
instill within the public awareness of their rights with regard to these resources because it is their
national heritage. Egypt Independent was a huge catalyst in trying to fill this void.‖
Noor says the Egyptian press occasionally has a piece or section dedicated to environmental news,
even governmental publications, but the difference between English and Arabic coverage of such
issues is that between breaking a story and covering an issue in-depth.
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