Populist media!

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On the sidelines of the United Nations meetings in New York, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with the Australian journalists accompanying him. The questions focused on immediate foreign and domestic policy issues. But a prominent journalist asked him: “You are supposed to receive an international award while you are here. Don’t you feel that you are practicing some kind of deception by accepting the award while you failed to address the worst killing incident in the country’s history?” Albanese responded with one word: No. The journalist was not satisfied with that, but the newspaper where she works published a large picture of her on the front page, asking the Prime Minister. The comment was: Latika Burke (the name of the journalist) asks the question that touched the essence of the truth and reached the heart of reality.

The word deception (or fraud) has become popular in the media. Some praised and wondered: Why don't more journalists do what Latika did? There were those who said it was the best question the prime minister had faced... but the majority were like: If that is the case, then we are in trouble. The question has nothing to do with the current reality... Moreover, it deals with an incident that occurred last year, and there is nothing new about it. Many said that the question aims to make the journalist become the news story, and not what happened at the conference. The evidence is that her newspaper made her question the headline. There are those who wonder: Where are the professional and ethical standards that prevent the discussion in the media and journalism from being transformed into purely personal matters?

The journalist has become a hero in the eyes of her newspaper and those who adopt this method based on such explosive questions, which may have nothing to do with current affairs. Witness the transformation of the media personality or journalist into the hero of the news story, whose role is supposed to be to present it in the best way to the public, has become the most prominent trend in our media. If the majority of Australian journalists rejected the newspaper style, the reality in Egypt seems to be the opposite. Talk show journalists have almost become the hero of the news story every evening. There is no new news or information. There is no discussion appropriate to the issues raised or the target audience. The announcer launches an “ifeh,” or comment full of spices and slang words. It quickly tops the main pages of websites and social media. People don't know what the issue is in the first place. What matters is what the announcer said.

The personalization of journalistic or media work undermines the credibility of the media in front of the audience that watches or follows, not for the sake of learning about theories, ideas, and famous sayings of program presenters, but rather in order to know a new news, vision, or position that helps them face the burdens of life, and what is happening in Egypt and the world. Playing the role of the hero distracts attention from the main issues that need to be discussed, and instead of focusing on what the audience wants, the interest is in what the broadcaster says and wants. The broadcaster’s bias towards or opposition to the government makes him a party to the conflict instead of being neutral. The irony is that this method can serve the benefit of the official or personality under attack. The Australian Prime Minister's popularity increased because he rose above responding to personal attacks. The tyranny of the media “ego” over everything else has come to an end.

Quoted from “Al-Masry Al-Youm”