LEGISLATION WATCH- The House of Representatives gave preliminary approval yesterday the National Press Authority bill and referred it to the Council of State (Maglis El Dawla) for review before it goes to a final vote, Youm7 reports. The legislation — one of the three bills born out of the process of dividing part two of the Press and Media Act — outlines the structure, responsibilities, and jurisdiction of the National Press Authority, which will govern the work of state-owned newspapers, setting minimum wages for employees, appointing editors-in-chief and board members, and implementing pricing schemes for ads. The nine-member authority, whose head will be appointed by the president, will include representatives from the Council of State and Finance Ministry, in addition to journalists and media professionals working in different mediums, all serving terms of up to four years.

The House gave a preliminary nod to the bills on Sunday, a day after the Culture and Media Committee decided on the split, which created three laws each pertaining to a separate regulatory body (Al Shorouk has a solid primer on the responsibilities of each one). The laws are also expected to contain provision on the protection of journalists.