Alhurra and Radio Sawa Provide Extensive Coverage of the Egyptian Elections
(Springfield, Va., November 23, 2011) Alhurra and Radio Sawa’s team of correspondents are positioned throughout Egypt to provide extensive coverage of the first round of the Egyptian Parliamentary election. Coverage of the election started the week leading up to the election with reports from more than 10 cities in the North African country.
On Monday, Nov. 28th, Alhurra’s live coverage is scheduled to begin at 7 a.m. (all times Cairo time) and continue live through midnight. Radio Sawa’s localized Egyptian stream and its pan-Arab streams will expand newscasts throughout the day to give listeners the latest details from Egypt’s Parliamentary election.
“Alhurra and Radio Sawa have been at the forefront of reporting from Egypt and will continue to do so as the country enters a new era,” stated MBN President Brian Conniff. “There is a lot of interest in Egypt’s Parliamentary election both from Egypt and the rest of the region especially with the protests across the country and the Egyptian people calling for the end to military rule.”
Alhurra’s coverage will provide in-depth reporting on the protests and clashes that have broken out across the country; focusing on the demonstrators’ demands. Additionally, Alhurra will examine the challenges facing a new Parliament, the role of the youth and religious minorities, as well the Muslim Brotherhood. Alhurra’s nightly talk show Free Hour is live from Cairo beginning Nov. 23rd for a week.
Alhurra’s news magazine program, Al Youm, will also broadcast extensive coverage of the election. Leading up to the election, Al Youm interviewed protesters from Tahrir Square to hear first-hand about the concerns of Egyptian citizens. The program is also focusing on the economic challenges facing the country, as well as the role of women and religious minorities.
Radio Sawa will have correspondents reporting live from cities including Alexandria, Luxor, Cairo, Damietta and Asyout. Coverage will include interviews with prominent candidates and highlight their platforms; as well as addressing monitoring and security measures of the electoral process and preventing fraud. Radio Sawa will also take a look at the role of Facebook as a campaign tool and the “Sawti Libaldi” campaign for educating voters and representing the younger voters.
Alhurra and Radio Sawa will expand their online presence to incorporate audience feedback into the coverage of the elections, as well as discussion from the rest of the Arab world. Viewers can post their comments and discuss the latest news at www.alhurra.com/egyptvotes. They can also follow the latest headlines from Twitter (@alhurranews).
Recent surveys by research companies such as ACNielsen show that together Alhurra and Radio Sawa have an unduplicated weekly reach of an estimated 35 million adults. In Egypt Alhurra’s weekly reach is nearly 8 million viewers. Alhurra and Radio Sawa are operated by the non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters.