Alhurra and Radio Sawa Invite Egyptians to Participate in Election Coverage
On Sunday, Nov. 28th, Alhurra and Radio Sawa’s journalists will blanket Egypt to provide comprehensive coverage of the Egyptian Parliamentary election. In addition to reports from correspondents, both networks are encouraging viewers to send in their thoughts and videos regarding 2010 Egyptian Parliamentary election through Facebook and YouTube to incorporate viewpoints from Egyptians throughout the country.
Alhurra and Radio Sawa are asking Egyptians to log into www.Facebook.com/alhurra; www.Facebook.com/sawa and www.youtube.com/alhurra to interact with other Egyptians and let their voices be heard. Comments and videos will be played throughout Alhurra and Radio Sawa’s coverage; as well as being incorporated into their respective Web sites.
On Sunday, Nov. 28th, Alhurra’s live continuous coverage begins at 7:00 a.m. (all times Cairo time) and will be broadcast throughout the day. With expert guests, analysts and reports from Egypt; the coverage will examine what political parties are participating in the election, U.S./Egyptian relations, the current challenges facing Egypt and the impact the Parliamentary election will have on the Presidential election scheduled for 2011.
Alhurra’s flagship program Al Youm produced a series of reports looking at key issues during the campaign including the rights of women, unemployment, freedom of the press and democratic reform. On Election Day, Al Youm will examine how NGOs are monitoring the elections and using social media to promote transparency.
The network’s weekly talk show dedicated to the Egyptian election (Hiwar Cairo) brings Egyptian newsmakers and candidates to the forefront to address the most pressing issues leading up to the Egyptian Parliamentary election. The program recently made headlines with its interviews including Munir Abd Alnur from the Wafdist party and Egypt’s National Democratic Party’s media chief Ali Eddin Hilal who announced on Hiwar Cairo that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will seek reelection in 2011.
Additionally, Alhurra’s daily talk show, Free Hour, will be dedicated to the Egyptian election on Sunday, Nov. 28th and Monday, Nov. 29th. Alhurra will also broadcast a special edition of Eye on Democracy, which will examine the role of monitoring groups in the election.
Leading up to the elections, Radio Sawa’s team of correspondents will produce a seven-part series profiling the seven leading political parties in Egypt, highlight the female candidates and the role of the youth in the election. Additionally, the newscasts on all of Radio Sawa’s streams will be extended an additional five minutes on Election Day to provide updates from Egypt. Radio Sawa will also increase the number of newscasts to Egypt by adding two additional broadcasts on Nov. 29th (9:45 a.m. and 10:45 a.m.) the day after the election to provide listeners with complete results and analysis. Radio Sawa’s Magazine will dedicate two days of the program to the election.
Recent surveys by research companies such as ACNielsen show that together Alhurra and Radio Sawa have an unduplicated weekly reach of an estimated 35 million adults. Alhurra and Radio Sawa are operated by the non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.
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Contact:
Deirdre Kline
Director of Communications
Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.
703-852-9250