The forbidden file...
As a foreign-licensed publication, the Cairo Times must go through a censor before it enters Egypt. There's a rough guideline of things we're not allowed to write about,
but sometimes it
seems the goalposts change every week. You never know what they'll accept
and what they won't. Usually we have to take out a paragraph or two (we've
marked these parts in red), but sometimes they'll want a whole story removed,
and if we don't comply they can ban the whole issue. Here's a sample of
what the censor didn't want you to read.
These articles were chopped apart...
* A sweetheart economy? -- Just how bad is corruption in Egypt? (Vol 1, Iss 8)* Reading between the tank tracks -- Interpreting Egypt's military manouvers (Vol 1, Iss 18)
* Magdy Hussein -- Looking for a revolution (Vol 1, Iss 19)
The censor objected to parts of these articles. We made some changes, but they banned the issue anyways...
* Reining in the police -- The wall of official silence over routine police brutality is finally being breached... or is it? (Vol 2, Iss 1)* A day in the life of a Cairo Time reporter and photographer (Vol 2, Iss 1)
* Brother of another color -- The Red Sheikh preaches a mixture of social justice and liberal Islam (Vol 2, Iss 2)
* Talking points -- A discerning look at the Arabic press (Vol 2, Iss 2)
* 58 publications kicked out --The government shoots itself in the foot with a printing ban in Cairo's free zone (Vol 2, Iss 4)
©Cairo Times