LONDON (TrustMedia) - Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) has launched an Arabic website to provide independent news and information on upcoming elections in Egypt, aimed at voters and journalists alike.
The North African nation will begin voting in parliamentary elections on Nov. 28, the first since a popular uprising in February toppled Hosni Mubarak as president and put the military in charge of an interim government. Presidential elections are also due to be held, although a date has not yet been set.
The Aswat Masriya website – www.aswatmasriya.com – provides news on election developments from its own network of journalists across the country, as well as from Reuters news agency and other content partners, including two respected Egyptian newspapers. The name "Aswat Masriya" means both "Egyptian voices" and "Egyptian votes."
Egyptian citizens can visit the site for factual information on election laws, and how and where to vote. They can also find out more about the candidates, their parties and their policies.
Editor Saif Hamdan, who has worked with Reuters Arabic service for many years, hopes the Egyptian media will also use the site as a one-stop-shop to help them report on the elections.
In the wake of the Egyptian revolution, international standards of good journalism were not being respected, he said.
"One of the main motives for this project is to provide the truth and present it in a decent, neutral, transparent way for everyone to know," he explained.
TrustMedia, TRF's programme for media development and journalism training around the world, is also holding workshops on election reporting for Egyptian journalists in an effort to promote fair, independent and accurate coverage of the polls.
MODEL TESTED IN IRAQ
Hamdan said Aswat Masriya aims to emulate the achievements of a similar TRF project in Iraq in the run-up to democratic elections there in early 2005. This initiative helped Iraqi journalists set up an independent news agency called Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq), in English and in Arabic.
"This established a very good custom in helping communities and societies coming out of trauma – like Iraq back then and Egypt after the revolution now – to build themselves on a new, transparent and democratic basis," Hamdan said.
Aswat Masriya is a free service and does not accept any kind of advertising so as to preserve its editorial independence and neutrality. In recognition of the role of social media during Egypt's recent uprising, the site also provides regular updates via Twitter and Facebook.
Monique Villa, chief executive officer of TRF, which is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, said Aswat Masriya would help voters navigate the electoral process and fully participate in their country's first democratic election.
"The elections mark a watershed moment in Egypt's modern history, and objective, reliable information is critical to the fledgling democratic process," she said. "With Aswat Masriya, Thomson Reuters Foundation is responding to an urgent need for transparent information during this crucial period of transition."
Hamdan said the site will cover governance issues relating to the polls, including any violations of the electoral process.
The weeks leading up to the start of the elections have been troubled. Earlier this month, at least 25 people were killed when troops broke up a protest led by Egypt's Coptic Christian minority, deepening public doubts about the military's ability to steer the country peacefully towards democracy.
The army has been accused by politicians on all sides of aggravating social tensions through a clumsy response to unrest on the streets and for not giving a clear timetable for handing power to civilians.
Staggered voting to elect two houses of parliament is scheduled to last until March, followed by the drafting of a new constitution. That could push the presidential poll back to the end of 2012 or early 2013, leaving power with the military council until then. Presidential hopefuls have demanded a swifter vote on April 1.
"Aswat Masriya is a valuable initiative that will give high-value, independent news to the Egyptian people on the forthcoming elections at a crucial time of their history," said Michael Stott, Reuters regional editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa. "We hope (they) will enjoy the website, which is guided by the Reuters Principles of accuracy, independence and freedom from bias, and find it useful."
(Editing by Rebekah Curtis)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
