Running head: A CULTURAL AND COMMUNICATION EVALUATION1

Inside Egypt: A Cultural and Communications Evaluation

Paige Elizabeth Moore

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University

Department of Journalism and Mass Communications

JOMC 351

International Communication

Dr. Yahya Kamalipour

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Abstract

This paper offers an insight into Egypt and its rich culture, it’s current economic status, and a

look into its communication platforms. It will examine the governmental changes relating to

print, broadcast, newspaper, radio, and media communications. It also outlines their current

infrastructure for supporting the country’s growing need for telecommunications and internet

infrastructure upgrades. Also outlined in this paper is a look into some of Egypt’s cultural and

religious groups. Throughout this paper, it will demonstrate how tourism is a major pillar of

economic stability. It highlights the governmental differences between a centralized economy

and a free economy. It also explores the languages and cultural groups within Egypt. It concludes

with the author’s overview of how population growth will impact the country’s future, and how

Egypt needs to re-evaluate its outlook on social media.

Keywords: media, communications, economy, politics

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Inside Egypt: A Cultural and Communications Evaluation

Geographic Factors

Egypt is an

African country

that connects

the northeast

corridor of Africa to

the middle east. It sits

along the Nile River

and borders other countries, such as Jordan, Sinai, & Jerusalem. The capital of Egypt is Cairo.

The mighty Nile River is the biggest body of water that runs throughout Egypt. The country is

separated into two parts: Upper Egypt which is considered the south and Lower Egypt which is

considered the north. Egypt is sectioned this way because the Nile River flows south to north.

Egypt is also bordered by the Mediterranean Sea & Red Sea. Arabic is the official language and

Islam is the dominant religion. The Egyptian pound is the official currency. According to

Scholastic (https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/fast-facts-egypt/),
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Egypt’s current population is 84.5 million. Egypt is a country rich in culture and history that

dates back to the ancient time of Egyptian pharaohs.

Economic Factors

To set the stage for the Egyptian economy, we must understand that the Egyptian

economy is a planned or centralized economy that is different from the U.S. economy, which is a

free enterprise economy. This foundation of a centralized economy where the government plans

and controls businesses and their resources can be somewhat limiting to Egypt’s overall social

and economic growth.  Because of this rich ancient history, tourism is a major part of the

economy. Over half of Egypt's economy and its workers are engaged in service industries jobs

such as manufacturing, agriculture, government, and tourism. Tourism alone brings in millions of

dollars yearly. According to new research, “The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

revealed that Egypt’s tourism sector saw a remarkable 21 percent growth in 2019, welcoming

13.6 million visitors, according to a report released on January 20.” (Maged, 2020). These are the

main services that are instrumental in generating a substantial amount of revenue for its

economy. As stated by Statista (Topic: Travel and tourism industry in Egypt, 2019, May 29) “

The Travel and tourism industry provides a substantial contribution to the Egyptian economy,

with a total contribution of 374.6 billion Egyptian pounds(EGP) to GDP, which is equivalent to a

share of 11% of the GDP in 2017. The industry is estimated to make a total contribution of over

600 billion EGP to the Egyptian economy in 2028.” (Topic: Travel and tourism industry in

Egypt, 2019, May 29). Their service industry includes textiles, food products, chemicals,

pharmaceuticals, metals, & agriculture. As stated in the Scholastic

(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/fast-facts-egypt/), “Agriculture

contributes to less than 20% of the GDP.” As stated on the Scholastic website
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(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/egypt/), Cotton, oil, and

petroleum products are part of Egypt's main exports. Crude oil and petroleum are also the

nation's top exports. Mining is also essential to Egypt's economy. Based on my research, I

discovered Egyptians rely mostly on fossil fuels such as oil to fulfill the country's energy source.

In this next segment, the paper will begin to highlight and review the political environment and

communication regulations and freedoms.

Political Environment

As reported by Britannica (Little et al., 2020), “Egypt has operated under several

constitutions, both as a monarchy and, after 1952, as a republic.” The first and most liberal of

these was the 1923 constitution, which was promulgated just after Britain declared Egypt’s

independence. That particular document laid the political and cultural groundwork for modern

Egypt, declaring it an independent sovereign Islamic state with Arabic as its language.”

Understanding the foundation of Egyptian culture and history is important. It is just as important

to know their government, along with the country's regulations and policies. The current

president of Egypt has been in office since 2014. His name is Abdel Fattah el- SISI. Additionally,

according to Britannica (Little et al., 2020), “The Egyptian constitution proclaims the Arab

Republic of Egypt to be a democratic state with Islam as its state religion and Arabic as its

national language. It recognizes public and private ownership and guarantees the equality of all

Egyptians before the law and their protection against arbitrary intervention by the state in the

legal process. It also affirms the people’s right to peaceful assembly and the right to organize into

associations or unions and to vote. It forbids the formation of political parties based on religion.”

As stated by Scholastic(https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/fast-facts-

egypt/), “The constitution was amended in 2005 to allow the president to be elected by popular
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vote. The president serves a 6-year term. There are no limits to the number of terms the president

may serve. The legislature consists of the People's Assembly and the Advisory Council. The

Supreme Constitutional Court heads the judiciary. Overall, this authority gains access to any

form of communication and can legally intervene and have access if needed. Additionally, in

January 2014 Egypt adopted a new constitution. “Private life is inviolable, safeguarded, and may

not be infringed upon. Postal, telegraph, e-correspondence, telephone calls, and any other means

of communications are inviolable and their confidentiality is guaranteed and they may only be

confiscated, examined, or monitored by causal judicial order, for a limited period, and in cases

specified by the law.” (“State of Privacy Egypt,” 2019). During my research, it seemed including

this piece was essential because it gives a specific statement expressing the insurance of

communications regarding Egypt. The state shall protect the rights of citizens to use all forms of

public means of communication, which may not be arbitrarily disrupted, stopped, or withheld

from citizens, as regulated by the law. Additionally, privacy international also stated, “In Egypt,

the report suggested widespread government interference and unrestricted access to

communications data over its networks by the armed forces and national security agencies, who

enjoy the broad latitude to intercept communications with or without an operator’s control or

oversight. The report prompted speculation that other network operators in the country might be

subjected to similar arbitrary surveillance.” (“State of Privacy Egypt,” 2019).  Based on my

observations, it appears that updating the constitution was a recent decision strictly made by the

government. 

Like politics in the U.S., we have many acts regarding our citizens and media

communications. Egypt also has many acts and media communications regarding the regulations

of their country as well as their citizens. The laws act and regulations regarding the citizens of
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Egypt’s a good example of what Egyptians can and cannot do. One such law and regulation is the

National Telecommunication Regulation Authority (NTRA) of Egypt, responsible for regulating

telecommunication services. Egyptian telecommunication and regulation laws are laws that

govern communication within Egypt. Another regulatory body is the law regulating the press

media and the supreme council for media regulations. This law monitors and regulates media

outlets, websites for publishing, or publishing content that may violate Egyptian Law. Egypt's

National Media Authority (NMA) has control over the restrictions on communication. Similarly,

when discussing Egyptian communication restrictions, I will also discuss the freedoms and

social/cultural groups of Egypt. 

Social/ Linguistic/ Cultural Groups and Forces

As I began to examine the culture groups in Egyptian, I identified three main groups.

“The larger population in Egypt is the Egyptians. Egyptians make 95% of Egypt’s population.

Egyptians speak modern Egyptian Arabic. On the other hand, there are other minority groups

such as the Berbers of Siwa oasis, Nubian of southern Nile, Bedouins, and Copts who make up

5% of the entire population. The Nubians speak Nubian language while Copts speak the Coptic

language mainly in church during prayers and hymns.’’ (Kinuthia, 2018).  

Communications/ Broadcast/Print Media Factors

Mass Communications outlets in Egypt are similar to Mass Communications

outlets in the United States with one major difference. Government control. Egypt’s print and

broadcast media outlets are major providers of information throughout the region. The Egyptian

Radio and Television Union is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian

government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. According to Britannica.com,

‘’Al-Ahram, (Arabic: “The Pyramids”) daily newspaper published in Cairo, long regarded as
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Egypt’s most authoritative and influential newspaper and one of the most important papers in the

Arab world.’’ (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2020). According to BBC (BBC News,

2018), ‘’There are more than 20 daily newspapers - state-run or privately-published. Print media

are in decline as readers go online for news. There were 49.2 million internet users by December

2017 around 49.5% of the population.” (Internetworldstats.com).

Broadcast Services

In recent years the authorities have been increasing controls over traditional and social

media to an unprecedented degree (BBC News, 2018). In doing this, it displays how much

authoritative control Egypt has over government information. Also, print media is declining

because readers are now getting news from online sources. Egypt is more open to distributing

information relating to news, social, and political events. TV production is under the National

Media Authority. National Media Authority is a state-run, operated network, including three

additional TV stations, such as Nile News, Nile TV International, & Nile TV thematic channels,

stated by BBC (BBC News, 2018). Radio is also under NMA, “A state-ran, operates national,

regional, & external services including flagship General Programme.” (BBC News, 2018).

Additionally, BBC (BBC News, 2018) also reported, “Nile FM, Western Pop, & Nogoum FM are

all privately owned stations.” Although the majority of TV and Radio stations are privately

owned, I discovered they do air programs similar to the U.S., such as soap operas and talk shows,

comedy, and education. I also discovered the mass majority of the news stations portray news

with a negative undertone to their viewers. The government uses television as a ploy to get their

messages across to all Egyptian citizens and to control the opinion of the public when issues of

matter occur (Al Jazeera English, 2019). The country has more private, then public national news

channels, but BBC and CNN are included in these channels. Having these national channels
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allows Egyptians to see what's going on outside of their country and vice versa with Americans

and/or other countries that want to be aware of what is happening around them. This is also great

for tourists. 

Broadcast Programming

Overall, they have transformed their production as well as content for centuries. “The

first Arab- controlled television station was opened by Iraq in May 1956.” (“Arab Mass Media,”

2004). When the revolutionary government replaced the monarchy two years later it boosted the

station's power and increased the political content of programs. Fast-forward to the 1960s,

entertainment was short-lived, with minimal channels dedicated to that, eventually turning into

relatively political stations. In this last part of my paper, I will discuss the highlights of modern

broadcast programming.

New Telecommunication Technologies

“The telecommunication ministry introduced fiber optic internet in 2,530 schools,

and internal servers in 700 others. Starting January, fiber optic internet and Wi-Fi will be

introduced in other schools.” (Reda, 2018). “Egypt’s broadband internet speed is reported to be

among the slowest in the world, ranking 146 out of 150 countries in total, according to the Speed

test market report issued on Thursday that measures internet performance around the world.”

(Noureldin, 2017).

Conclusions

 To conclude, Egypt is a fascinating country rich in tradition that has come a long way.

However, their government philosophy, laws, and regulations will have to continue to evolve for

Egypt to keep up with the changes around their population growth and the ever-evolving social

and economic global climate. Though Egypt is more progressive with their social media, print
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media, television, and radio media than their neighbors within the region, Egypt still has a long

way to go. Based upon their Internet Infrastructure, and their telecommunications Infrastructure,

Egypt will have to continue to progress with technology to support their growing population.

Additionally, Egypt will have to explore loosening up their rules and regulations around their

social media content and advertisement. Overall, as a nation, Egypt as a country will continue to

be a progressive Islamic nation in that region.

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References

Al Jazeera English. (2019, January 27). 🇪🇬 Spinning for Sisi: Egypt’s talk show hosts | The

Listening Post (Feature). Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=RoVZ0ACyATU 

Arab Mass Media. (2004, January 1). Retrieved April 21, 2020, from

https://books.google.be/books?

id=UGfbluSa4N8C&pg=PA184&lpg=PA184&dq=what+are+the+domestic+

+broadcasting+programs+Egypt+has&source=bl&ots=JZMxL5MOke&sig=ACfU3U29gY3v

XdtLCNo_lKBdb2EEAzkozQ&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

BBC News. (2018, October 23). Egypt profile. Retrieved April 18, 2020, from

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13313373 

Egyptian Social Structure [ushistory.org]. (2020, January 10). Retrieved April 22, 2020, from

https://www.ushistory.org/civ/3b.asp 

Goldschmidt, A. E., Hopwood, D., Smith, C. G., Little, D. P., Holt, P. M., & Baker, R. W. (2020,

March 17). Egypt - Languages. Retrieved April 25, 2020, from

https://www.britannica.com/place/Egypt/Languages
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Kinuthia, S. (2018, July 20). Major Ethnic Groups in Egypt. Retrieved April 28, 2020, from

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-the-ethnic-composition-of-egypt.html 

Mekay, E. (2011, July 14). TV Stations Multiply as Egyptian Censorship Falls. Retrieved April

18, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/world/middleeast/14iht-M14B-EGYPT-

MEDIA.html 

State of Privacy Egypt. (2019, January 26). Retrieved April 30, 2020, from

https://privacyinternational.org/state-privacy/1001/state-privacy-egypt 

Topic: Travel and tourism industry in Egypt. (2019, May 29). Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/topics/5327/travel-and-tourism-industry-in-egypt/ 
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