Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes: A New Ministry of Civil Morale Affairs

Friday, 01 April 2016

Crises are escalating that carry within them, or give rise to, great controversy in public opinion, to the point of division between several camps, each singing to the rhythm of its own premises, which may be paid for or steered by some party.

The media, too, flounders and swims in a sea without reaching for a lifeline or sighting a shore to head for, and the personal interests of some channel owners get mixed in, so that everyone blows the horn and the fire burns ever brighter, penetrating a fertile environment ready to receive any form of chaos whose signs may appear on the horizon.

We note the variety of recent events, how they branch out, overlap and differ widely, so as to cause the greatest possible confusion among the public and to shape a public opinion that differs from one group to another before finally uniting in the form of general resentment: the protests of master's and doctorate holders, the problem of imprisonment in freedom-of-opinion cases, the Ultras, the Hurghada incident, the Russian plane crash, the jailing of a 4-year-old child and again of 4 children in Sohag, the case of police sergeants, enforced disappearance, the killing of the Italian, the Doctors' Syndicate, the white taxi drivers, and the blocking of a road over a missing girl, etc.

Regardless of who is at fault in any problem, the repercussions of each are exploited skillfully and at a carefully chosen time to stir the greatest possible controversy among citizens.

They are observers who know their goal and their role in monitoring and seizing on people's problems and in promoting these topics as widely as possible in the media, geographically and in society, while there is no body or specific official able to analyze these topics strategically and to guide people, raise their awareness and inform them of what is happening around them, and of their national sense.

Is the responsibility the sovereign authorities' alone, or the media's as well? Is there a specific agency or body in charge of raising people's awareness to preserve their unity, avoid division, and counter calls for incitement against State institutions, not individuals? Freedom of expression is an inherent right that cannot be infringed, but protecting State institutions is a national duty, and it allows us to exercise our freedom safely.

If we look at the United States, we find that 90% of the media work in the interest of American policy, and a smaller share of 7% or less opposes the policies of the White House, such as the «Fox» channel, while the agencies all work hand in hand with the legal authorities to ensure that everyone keeps to their role and does not incite against State institutions.

Here, however, everyone plays to the rhythm of the chaos of satellite channels racing to get news from the internet without checking or review, announcing someone's death and apologizing for the report five minutes later, and some of them serve vested interests rather than the interest of the nation.

We therefore propose establishing a new Ministry of Civil Morale Affairs to raise the awareness of our people and inform them, modeled on the Morale Affairs Department of the Armed Forces. It could include «the media, the State Information Service, etc.» and would be responsible for monitoring and analyzing passing or incoming ideas and problems, or those that emerge from everywhere to affect all areas of life, in order to explain and examine, frankly, clearly and transparently, the problem and its solution, rather than leaving these matters to the ministries' media spokespeople, who lack the information or the political dimensions of the various topics. Such topics are intertwined and overlapping and have political, economic, social, popular and security dimensions as well, and they should be handled by specialists in the proposed ministry, provided there is security and transparency and information is made available to citizens, as these are important elements on the path to building and stabilizing democratic societies.