|
|
register now
for site updates
(type your email here)
|
|
|
|
|
|
The easiest way to find out what's in this week's most popular magazines
|
Al-Mussawir
September 21, 2001
Al-Ahram Al-Iktisadi
September 17, 2001
Rose El-Youssef
September 15, 2001
Al-Ahram Al-Iktisadi's cover features the telling headline: "Al-Hadath Khateer, wal Nata'ig Akhtar" (A Dangerous Accident, and an Even More Dangerous Atermath)...
Al-Mussawir features Osama bin Laden in the crossbows and yet another chilling headline -- "Al-Intiqam" (Revenge) -- in blood red.
Rose El-Youssef announces the start of World War Three: The world versus terrorism. Amongst its other front-cover attention-grabbers, the magazine says that "Just hours afterwards, the Americans confessed their sins to religious leaders."
The terror attacks on New York and Washington have dominated all forms of print media the world over -- and Egyptian magazines were no exception. And without exception, their coverage of the attacks and their aftermath reflect the ideas and concerns of Egyptians and their government -- showing a depth of perspective that goes far beyond Egypt's borders.
It's America's revenge, of course, that Al-Mussawir has dedicated this issue to, headlining one story "The US is going to hit Afghanistan even if they hand over bin Laden." In "Searching for an enemy!!" editor Makram Mohamed Ahmed says the true question is how the US plans to balance its need "to quench the thirst of the many who seek quick revenge" with the fact that "most of them are simple citizens who don't care all that much about the world outside the United States..."
Reporting from the United States, the magazine takes note of the fact that US President Bush declared Friday -- not Sunday, or any other day -- a day of national prayer after the attacks. A Muslim imam spoke first at the ceremony, which took place in a Washington cathedral.
"Where are the wise of the world?" is back page column writer Mahmoud Al-Saadani's question. "Are there still wise people in the world?"
Al-Ahram Al-Iktisadi's editor Essam Refaat talks with politicians, professors, businessmen and officials about how the attacks might affect Egypt -- and especially its economy. The predictions span the spectrum -- from fewer European tourists to higher-priced loans and fleeing capital. In its stock market supplement the economic newsweekly says the only effect the attacks on the US will have on the Egyptian stock exchange are psychological -- and that can be controlled. Of course that's assuming that the future does not hold political and military maneuvers that would negatively affect Egypt and the region.
"Associating this event with the Middle East is jumping the gun," Arab League chief Amr Moussa tells the magazine. "The investigations are ongoing."
Nonetheless, the magazine also features a prominent photo essay documenting continuing Israeli terrorism on the Palestinians. The images from the year-old Al-Aqsa Initfada are all too familiar: Mohamed El-Dora being shot, stone-throwers being attacked by soldiers with machine guns, tanks demolishing houses, funerals for the dead...
Rose El-Youssef focuses on President Mubarak's TV appearances in the days following the attack, summing up Mubarak's message as "Terrorism is more dangerous than war." Mubarak was nearly assassinated in Ethiopia, but the president says, he was wise to not take the sort of revenge that would have punished the innocent. Editor Mohamed Abdel-Moneim argues that what Washington is asking the world for now -- a global war on terrorism -- Mubarak asked for 8 years ago in an interview with The Washington Post's Cairo correspondent at the time, Caryle Murphy. The interview took place two days before 1993's World Trade Center bombing. To an America which was only feeling terrorism on its shores for the first time, Mubarak's message that "the only way to combat terrorism is via a global cooperative effort" now clearly rings true.
Deeper in, the magazine tours Hollywood's previews of Tuesday's attacks in films like Independence Day, Mars Attacks, and The Siege. Another article argues that because of its lackluster protests against Hollywood stereotyping of Arabs, and its refusal to cozy up to the industry and "play the game", as Jews have done, the Arab world is only helping to prop up Hollywood's close ties with Hollywood. Getting into the grit of popular culture should be an important goal of any Arab PR effort.
Assem Hanafy suggests, in his back-page column, that the attacks on the premier US military and economic symbols can only mean that the perpetrator is seeking to overthrow the US government. All that's missing, he winks, is a takeover of the Radio and TV building and an announcement of "Decree # 1". The article is interesting, as it explores the confines of analysis within your own system. Or does it?
Business Monthly
September, 2001
The magazine's editorial sets the scene for extensive coverage of the recent 6 per cent devaluation in the Egyptian pound vis a vis the dollar: "... Despite the devaluation, the temptation remains for many to dollarize their assets as soon as possible, on the chance of further devaluation." That sort of speculation, the editorial argues, is essentially guessing, and symptomatic of a "lack of faith". Inside, the cover story looks at how much faith the different entities affected by the devaluation really have regarding the current state of the country's foreign exchange policies. Exchange office owners complain that banks are allowed to hoard dollars while they are shut down for doing the same thing. The cement industry is happy, thanks to its exports.
An article looks at Orascom Telecom's change of focus in their global mobile phone network investments. Selling their sub-Saharan licenses to pay for an Algerian one is "a major shift in emphasis away from a presence in many countries towards operations in several key markets," the magazine says.
Another article looks at the rather interesting conundrum facing Egyptian business directory publishers helping to make the country as transparent as possible: The same "companies [that] gripe about unreliable data, ... don't contribute to its flow," is how one publisher puts it.
Note: Our thanks to Business Monthly magazine for their positive review of cairolive in the September issue. "To cover everything of interest that might be happening in this city would be practically impossible," the magazine writes, "But there is a source that comes close -- cairolive.com."
Taking its readers on a tour of all our different sections (and calling our Critic's summer film reviews an "edifying experience" in the process), the magazine says cairolive is a site filled with "absorbing content and [an] all-around friendly feel."
Did you like this article? Send your comments to comments@cairolive.com
|
|
|
