Modern Egyptian media: transformations, paradoxes, debates and comparative perspectives

This article analyses the transition, complexity and dynamics of the modern Egyptian media landscape. It sheds light on some of the most important transformations, paradoxes and debates pertaining to this changing media landscape, and it explores some western theoretical perspectives and questions their validity as comparative perspectives for analysing modern Egyptian media. The article overviews the transformations in the modern Egyptian media scene in two specific phases: the pre- and post-1952 phase and the pre- and post-1990 phase, in an effort to understand the most significant waves of change that swept the Egyptian media scene, the causes behind them, and their multiple implications. It also explores the most important paradoxes that emerged in this highly ambivalent media landscape, as well as the debates pertaining to this transitional press model, especially the debate around whether the current waves of change sweeping the Egyptian media landscape can bring about a faster transition toward true democracy. It also examines the degree to which the modern Egyptian media landscape can overlap with, or diverge from, the three comparative press models proposed by Hallin and Mancini (2004) and the reasons behind this overlap or divergence.