Shura Council, press council argue over editor selection process

MENA

Thu, 19/07/2012 - 21:38

Photographed by other

The Supreme Press Council has no right to demand the dissolution of the Shura Council’s committee for choosing the editors-in-chief of state-owned newspapers, said Fathy Shehab Eddin, the head of that committee.

“It is the Supreme Press Council that should be dissolved as it no longer truly represents the journalists after the revolution,” Shehab Eddin, who is also the head of the Shura Council’s culture committee, said on Thursday.

Earlier in July, several prominent media figures and journalists protested against the Muslim Brotherhood-led Shura Council’s power to choose the editors that would lead state-run publications. They expressed fears that the Brotherhood would take control of state newspapers altogether.

Some suggested that the selection process be postponed until after the new constitution is drafted and approved. The constitution would define the Shura Council’s responsibilities and powers.

 “The Supreme Press Council is against the development of the media and rejects the new criteria for choosing chief editors that were accepted by all journalists,” Shehab Eddin added.

Edited translation from MENA