I
postpone writing about the recently established councils of journalism and
media until later despite that I have – like many others – a lot to say… the
reason behind postponing is to let those new entities work and produce
something useful in the field of writing and not for the benefit of those
people chosen over top of those councils… no one knows – at least me – how
those people were chosen… what criteria were used to choose them… and even who
chose them… I did not bother to ask or even know the answer although some of
them are dear friends and colleagues to me.
However,
postponing writing does not mean to stop continuing writing about the
profession of journalism that I started in last week’s article… I waited for
anyone of those concerned with what was written in that article to reply… not
with the aim of having an empty argument… but to work together to pick our
profession from the current bad state it ended up in.
Two
years ago, I wrote that the first time for me to know that every profession or
craft has its own congregation and each group has a leader called “Shiekh”
was when I was seven years old; meaning sixty four years ago… that was when
Uncle Mansour Gerges; owner of the house we used to live in, asked my father;
the Arabic language and religion teacher in Al-Masaa’i Al-Mashkoura school, to
be the judge in the conflict he had between him and Uncle Faam; the carpenter
and owner of the carpentry workshop near to our home.
I
had an order from my father to have the wooden chairs lined in the backyard of
the house for them to sit on… after they drank tea, they talked and it ended up
that the matter is more complicated and difficult for the man whom the two
parties trusted – despite he was Muslim and they both were Christian – to be
the judge… and so my father declared that they should consult the Sheikh or
leader of the craft congregation; meaning Sheikh of carpenters because he is
more capable of settling the matter between them.
When
I grew up and studied history in Ain Shams University… I read Ibn Eias and
al-Gabarti… and then I knew that there were tens of crafts’ congregations
including those working in Khayamiya, blacksmiths, people working in
coal, carpenters and also Warraqeen; those people working in the field
of papers and books… that was until Muhammed Ali Pasha started building his new
modern state… he tightened his grip around crafts’ congregations and started
establishing factories… he gathered the young men who were to be masters in
every craft.
I
also knew that people working in all those fields used to make deals with each
other by verbal agreement; meaning the word… their word represented more
binding commitment than written contracts… and the honor of any man or Osta[1]
– that later changed to mean Ostaz or master in Arabic – has to do with the respect he had for the word or promise he gave… any one of them, no matter his
losses were, used to say: “I gave my word and cannot take it back”… also the Osta
or head of work used to respect the word that anyone of aides gives because he
believed that the honor of his aide is exactly his… and that the reputation of
the place exceeds the rank of the one who made and deal and gave the word.
Also,
books of history and folklore is full of funny stories about the traditions and
habits of those crafts’ congregations… for example, bakers and people working
in dying used to start their work by taking off all their clothes and then
wearing the outfit or Galabiya of work over their naked body… and so if
anyone of them got angry and decided to quit work, he rushes to wear his
clothes… but once the Osta comes to appease him, he tells him “calm down
and take off your clothes”.
And
even thieves of Gypsies, bandits and pickpockets have their traditions and
agreed-upon commitments where they respect each other areas of influence and
in-between connections… reaching to Manaaser; plural of Mansar or
the home of eagle… such name was given to the professional strong gangs,
especially in the countryside… each Mansar used to have its leader that
decides its policy and gives his word that he is willing to sacrifice his life
and not go back on it.
Maybe
the profession of journalism is the historical evolution of the profession of Warraqeen…
and like the rest of professions, it had its own leaders generation after
generation… my generation used to read for Muhammed el-Tabe’i, Ahmed el-Sawi
Muhammed, Muhammed Zaki Abdel-Kader and also Taha Hussain who combined between
working in literature, University and journalism… also al-Akkad… not to mention
the twin brothers Mustafa and Ali Amin along with the big master Mr. Heikal…
also Mr. Ahmed Bahaa ed-Din and Kamel esh-Shennawi…
I
believe I was a so close friend to an old man who stayed young in heart until
he left our world; that was my mentor and friend Kamel Zoheiri… I also was
close to Mr. Muhammed Ouda and many others… but despite their different
political and intellectual orientations and ideologies, they all had their own
traditions and criteria to distinguish the good from the bad in our profession.
Then…
Then
happened what happened in Egypt and many professions, including journalism,
deteriorated… and now we see newspapers opening to close after a month or two
because its owner wanted to make some money and just go… we also knew newspaper
forcing journalists to sign their resignation alongside signing their job application…
others asking the journalist to pay for employing him… others do not pay
salaries and insist journalist must pay his social insurance from the allowance
he receives from the syndicate; meaning he is paying money for the owner of the
newspaper…etc.
Later
we had another phase in the course of journalism… that was when TV shows
started and began to have an audiance… such field has now many considerations that
made it almost like Mafia world that man cannot penetrate unless he has the
required tools… here the journalist turned from a star spreading his shine over
papers and who gains his credibility from what he writes and the battles and
stances he adopts into a different kind of star where lights are shed on him
instead of shining from him… and maybe he himself is a star-like dim planetoid;
meaning that light falls on it from other source that makes him look like a shining
moon!
Amid
all this, many traditions, ethics and customs that once ruled our profession
decayed… and everyone is now dealing with bad intentions in advance… and that “we
are all thieves, my friend” so do not say “I gave my word” or “this is a moral
commitment”… but come and bring your lawyer with you and write and sign your
contract according to temporal and penalty clauses!
I
believe that some – including me – still behave like dinosaurs of political and
intellectual honor… once they are asked to write in a newspaper, they start
writing without paying attention to financial dues, article space or publishing
period… and in many times they write for free… and when they do, it is after
they study and think well about what they write… they aim at providing
information, if not a stating one, then it is historical, literary, folkloric,
political… etc.
The
question now: does journalism still have sheikhs or leaders of the
profession, or prominent figures for our congregation?... and if the answer is
yes, do anyone of those has the knowledge, cultivation, manners and behavior
comparable to other former figures I mentioned some of them above?
This
could be the subject of my next article in this space.
Translated
into English by: Dalia Elnaggar
This article was published in Al Ahram newspaper on
May 4, 2017.
To see the original article, go to:
#alahram #ahmad_elgammal #journalism_in_Egypt
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