Egypt’s military rulers to broadcast on their own TV channel soon

by Andy Sennitt.

Text of report by state-run Egyptian news agency MENA website

Cairo, 7 June: The News Sector with the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) is set to launch within the next weeks a new news channel called Al-Masdar [The Source] to be the main and official source for the news of official bodies in Egypt.

Tariq Fawzi, media advisor with the sector, told the Middle East News Agency (MENA) Tuesday [7 June] that General Tariq al-Mahdi, a member of the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) and also member of the board of trustees of the ERTU, had tasked Ibrahim al-Sayyad, chairman of the News Sector, to oversee the new channel.

Fawzi made it clear that Al-Masdar TV channel would handle all news regarding Egypt internally and externally.

Whether the new channel would replace the Nile News TV channel, Fawzi said Al-Masdar TV would be a separate and independent body from the Nile News TV, noting that the staff of the new channel would come from the Nile News TV channel and it would be possible to draw on the experience of other people working at other sectors in the ERTU.