Devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria still dominates talk shows
The devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria continued to dominate coverage on the airwaves last night. The nation’s talking heads focused much of their coverage of the disaster on events in Syria, with the widespread destruction seen in Turkey getting less attention. Kelma Akhira’s Lamees El Hadidi again dedicated the whole show to the disaster, noting the continuing rise of the death toll to 7.5k and a three-month state of emergency in hit cities (watch, runtime: 7:33). Much of last night’s Yahduth Fi Masr also focused on the earthquake (watch, runtime: 4:50), while Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 4:37) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 4:12) had the updates.
Egypt’s response: President El Sisi’s phone calls with the Syrian and Turkish leaders yesterday and the government’s decision to send aid also got a lot of attention. Ala Mas’ouleety’s Ahmed Moussa claimed Egypt was the first to offer condolences and aid to Syria, and was fuming over the lack of aid provided by Western nations, who he accused of worsening the situation by maintaining sanctions on Syria (watch, runtime: 3:14). Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 2:31) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 2:20) also took note.
Breakthrough in Sudan talks: A political consensus agreement signed between Sudanese political groups also got a mention on talk shows, with Al Hayah Al Youm’s Mostafa Sherdy saying that the agreement “reflected Egypt’s pivotal role” in helping bridge differences between the country’s opposing parties (watch, runtime: 16:48). The meetings give high hopes on the possibility of a dialogue between Sudanese political forces who were in Cairo and those who didn’t participate, Salah Halima, the deputy head of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs told Sherdy. Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 7:04) and Masaa DMC also took note (watch, runtime: 3:02).
Media regulator threatens to shutter “abusive” sports media outlets: Sports channels that spread ‘hatred” and launch personal attacks could have their licenses revoked, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) said yesterday.
A warning to Mortada Mansour? The decision comes weeks after Al Ahly submitted a complaint to the regulator against the owner of rival team Zamalek, Mortada Mansour, accusing him of attempting to defame the club. The decision was noted on Ala Mas’ouleety (watch, runtime: 10:00), Al Hayah Al Youm (watch, runtime: 6:19) and Masaa DMC (watch, runtime: 8:44).