Annual Bulletin – 2023 January 1 to December 31, 2023

The Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media aims, in its endeavor to develop the journalistic and media file in Egypt, at work diligently to provide comprehensive support and legal assistance for journalists, to contribute rights preservation and freedoms assurance. It also seeks to establish a culture of a safe working environment for journalists and media practitioners in Egypt, in addition to the institution’s continuous efforts to enhance capacities, through providing training sessions, workshops and various research papers and guides.

 In this context, we review the impact of the institution during the past year 2023: 

• The institution’s efforts succeeded in overturning the metro authority’s decision – which had lasted for many years – to prevent citizens from using the metro with their equipment and cameras, which negatively affected them, whether in being late for work or bearing high transportation expenses; the Institution obtained a decision to resolve the crisis after parliamentary intervention and submitting a briefing request through MP Ahmed Bilal, sending letters to the metro authority and the Ministry of Transportation, and adopting a full campaign to influence and change.

• The institution contributed and influenced the decision to release 10 imprisoned journalists.

• The institution obtained 15 court rulings; 12 rulings in civil cases in favor of 12 journalists against their institutions, in addition to 3 criminal rulings, including a ruling in favor of a journalist to imprison the owner of a newspaper for forging an editor’s signature and using it to dismiss him from the newspaper.

• The institution‘s legal unit team also attended 198 sessions in civil and criminal cases, in addition to carrying out 319 legal procedures in civil and criminal cases. 

• The institution provided 115 legal consultations to 98 journalists.

• The institution contributed to raising the capacities of 200 journalists through its training programs throughout the year; it provided 22 training programs and workshops, as part of its belief in the importance of development and education, in addition to improving the skills and capacities of 18 lawyers in 3 legal trainings.

•  The institution provided mental health support sessions for 25 journalists throughout October, as part of the “Together” program to promote mental health.

• About 203 journalists participated in 19 campaigns of the Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media over the past year 2023.

• The institution produced 217 publications, statements and positions during 2023 on various issues concerning the journalistic and media community.

• The Observatory collaborated with the Justice Party in carrying out a draft law on freedom of information, within the framework of national dialogue sessions.

• The institution discussed its monthly publications and experience in producing reports on the status of media freedoms in Egypt through a workshop for Egypt’s Journalists Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists.

• The institution contributed to establishing a limited liability company for the “Alhorriah” journalist website, as an agent for the founding journalists.

• The official Facebook page achieved 4,634,361 million views and engagements, in addition to thousands of views on other platforms.  

• The name of the Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media institution, according to the initial monitoring, was mentioned more than 120 times in news, reports and research papers issued by news websites, blogs or social media platforms, in addition to being relied upon as a source in a number of reports and research papers of Egyptian, Arab and foreign civil society institutions. 

These details come within the framework of this detailed report, as part of the periodic issuance of the newsletter for the activity of the Egyptian Observatory for Journalism and Media, which includes an annual summary of the institution’s publications and advocacy and support activities.

We present the 2023 bulletin. 

التقرير السنوى للوحدة الاعلامية بالانجليزى:To read the full English version