When Journalists Become the Story

Journalists are generally underpaid everywhere, and even less paid in Egypt. It’s a general rule that journalists aren’t in the business for the money, it’s mostly about their passion for the job.   But in this particular case, journalists of the Daily News Egypt (DNE) aren’t paid at all for a month of their hard work — much or little — and they’re being laid off without so much as a notice, let alone their legal financial rights. The team thought they saw a silver lining when a publishing house announced buying off DNE. But alongside their announcement of how much respect they have for the team, there it was, another announcement calling for reporters, editors and a managing editor — much like any new newspaper with no staff at all.   On April 22, people were shocked to hear that one of Egypt’s top English daily newspapers, and the only independent one, has published a farewell note. The editorial team only found out four days earlier that the DNE, the paper they’ve been working on so hard for seven years, will not be published anymore.   The Egyptian social network sphere was buzzing with the heartfelt and sad farewell note written by the editorial team, which was titled “Daily News Egypt: Final Words.”  Egyptians and foreigners alike expressed their sadness to bid farewell to DNE on Twitter and Facebook, and many faulting the decision of bringing it to an end.   The team started their note with how they were “abruptly” informed of the news. They included that it’s very important for them that the website remains as an archive for their loyal readers and others as a record of their hard work and the history of Egypt’s struggles and news. Their passion for the paper was strongly reflected in the note as they wrote, “The team at DNE has put their hearts into the paper, working effortlessly and tirelessly together to produce objective, reliable, timely content, always in an amazing work atmosphere of professionalism combined with a friendly and supportive spirit.” Unfortunately, it seems, this devotion for the paper wasn’t met with much appreciation from Egyptian Media Services (EMS), the owner of DNE.   It’s pay back time   In early May, the editorial team were told that their salaries were ready at the office, but when they went, they were shocked to know that EMS has decided to deny them their salaries for the month of April. This was only the case with the editorial team, other staff members got paid. “We just want our rights. Personally it was disappointing that everyone appreciated our work and were thanking us for what we did at DNE, while our own investors didn’t,” says Dalia Rabie, former Features Editor at DNE.   Some suspect that EMS managers were retaliating with this salary move because the editorial team filed a complaint at the labor office about being denied their severance packages.   The team has “decided to pursue legal action since the company’s liquidator told us we had no rights to severance packages for years of service ranging from two to seven, and this can only be resolved with a court order, thus encouraging us to file a complaint at the labor office for our financial rights,” wrote the team. This was said in a blog post they published on May 8 and publicized through a new twitter account under the name Original DNE.   According to Rabie, EMS told them that they’ll pay their taxes and debt from the liquidation money and “whatever remains will be given to us, which is in violation of the labor law.”   Currently, the labor office is trying to settle things with EMS, but if they refused the issue will go to court. EMS has finally agreed to give the editorial team their salaries, but not their severance packages.   Rabie clarifies that it’s important to note “the original DNE staff are now completely dissociated from DNE”. She believes that it’s true they weren’t able to sustain the publication financially, but adds, “DNE had so much potential. They kind of failed to see this and they decided not to invest in it anymore.”   On April 25, EMS published a statement on DNE’s website titled “Farewell Note from the Shareholders of EMS” that stated their appreciation of the staff despite their unexplainable action. “We believed in the editor and the writers, who were very passionate about their work.  We could not be more proud of the recognition they achieved, especially post-Revolution, and the outstanding body of work they leave as their legacy in a digital archive for future readers.”   A not so silver lining   Business News for Press, Publishing and Distribution, publishers of Alborsa newspaper, recently announced on DNE’s website that they would invest in republishing the paper “strongly believing in the historical value of Daily News Egypt maintained by its staff.”   They added that the paper should be published as normal in print and online by next June. They have already obtained copyrights and publishing rights to the DNE and announced they welcomed DNE’s editorial staff and “invites them to join the re-launching of the newspaper.”   A few days later, an announcement was made on the website calling for reporters, section editors and a managing editor for the newspaper. The DNE team, when contacted by Egypt Today, said they were in contact with Business News for Press, Publishing and Distribution, but they were in disagreement about the editorial directions.