The Ministry of Information (Arabic: وزارة الإعلام) was the ministry in charge of state-owned

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

and press in

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and for regulating the practices through affiliate agencies between 1971 until its latest dissolution in 2021.

History and profile

During president

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar es-Sadat (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until Assassination of Anwar Sadat, his assassination by fundame ...

's 11 year tenure, the ministry was renamed and restructured a number of times. In the first cabinet in October 1970 the Ministry of Culture and National Guidance was split into one for culture, and another for national guidance with

Mohamed Fayek Mohamed Fayek (born 1929) is an Egyptian politician who held various cabinet posts from 1967 to 1971 during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser. He was the minister of national guidance in 1967, the minister of information between 1968 and 1970 ...

appointed as minister Within a month the Ministry of National Guidance was renamed as the Ministry of Information with the same minister. After a further few months, in May 1971, the Mohamed Abdelqader Hatem was named Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information. In 1978 after signing a peace treaty with Israel, Sadat restructured the government and dissolved the ministry with his new prime minister

Mostafa Khalil Mustafa Khalil (, ; 18 November 1920 – 7 June 2008) was an Egyptian politician and Prime Minister of Egypt from October 2, 1978, to May 15, 1980. Khalil also served as the Egyptian Foreign Minister from February 17, 1979, until May 15, 1980 ...

saying that "state supervision of the information media has come to an end." This would not last long, and In 1979 it was again bundled as the Ministry of Culture and Information (during Mansour Hassan's tenure). Under president

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011 and the 41st Prime Minister of Egypt, prime minister from 1981 to ...

, the Ministry of Information was reestablished in 1982 after being spun off from the

Ministry of Culture and Information The Ministry of Media () is one of the governmental bodies of Saudi Arabia and part of the cabinet. The main function of the ministry is to regulate the media of Saudi Arabia and the communications between Saudi Arabia and other countries. It ...

. In 1986 Mubarak officially set out its mandate bringing the

Egyptian Radio and Television Union The National Media Authority (), formerly known as Egyptian State Broadcasting (ESU; ), is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Arab States Broadca ...

and the

State Information Service The State Information Service is an Politics of Egypt, Egyptian government agency affiliated to the President of Egypt, Egyptian Presidency. It is the official media and public relations apparatus of the Egyptian state, with a number of local an ...

under its supervision. The ministry would remain intact with only two ministers taking the post during Mubarak's 30-year rule. The Ministry of Information was dissolved in February 2011 when the new

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

was created under

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Essam Sharaf Essam Abdel-Aziz Sharaf (, ; born 1952) is an Egyptian academic who was the Prime Minister of Egypt from 3 March 2011 to 7 December 2011. He served as minister of transportation from 2004 to 2005. Early life and education Sharaf was born in Giz ...

in the wake of the Egyptian Revolution and the purge of

's regime. However, it was reestablished a few months later in July 2011 and Osama Heikal was appointed as minister The ministry was dissolved for a third time in 2021 after the resignation of Osama Heikal, and was not reestablished in the following cabinet reshuffle in 2022. The

National Media Authority The National Media Authority (), formerly known as Egyptian State Broadcasting (ESU; ), is the public broadcaster of Egypt, operated by the Egyptian government. It is a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Arab States Broadca ...

has taken up most of its duties overseeing state-owned media.

List of Egyptian Ministers of Information (incomplete)

President

(1970 — 1981) * Ahmed Kamal Abulmagd (1974 — ) * Mansour Hassan (1979–1981; as minister of culture and information)(22 December 2012)
Sadat's last minister of information dies
''Al-Ahram'' President

(1981 — 2011) *

Safwat El-Sherif Mohamed Safwat El Sherif (; 19 December 1933 – 13 January 2021) was an Egyptian politician who served as chairman of the State Information Service, minister of information, speaker of the Egyptian Shura Council, and secretary general of the r ...

(1982–2004)Hammond, Andrew
Pop Culture Arab World!: Media, Arts, and Lifestyle
p. 79 (2005) * Mamdouh al-Beltagui (2004 —2005) *

Anas el-Fiqqi Anas el-Fiqqi (alternate spelling: Anas El Feki, Anas El-Feki, Anas al-Fiqi, Anas El-Fekky or el-Fiqi) (14 October 1960) is an Egyptian entrepreneur and former state official, well known for being Hosni Mubarak's last minister of information. Anas ...

(2005–2011)

Supreme Council of the Armed Forces The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF; , ', also Higher Council of the Armed Forces) is a Statutory authority, statutory body of between 20 and 25 Senior officer, senior Officer (armed forces), officers of the Egyptian Armed Forces, and ...

(2011 — 2012) * Osama Heikal (2011–2012) President

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa Al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012 Salah Abdel Maqsoud Salah Abdel Maqsoud () was the minister of information of Egypt as part of the Qandil Cabinet. Early life and education Maqsoud was born on 13 June 1958 in Sharqia Governorate. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Cairo Univ ...

(2012–2013) Interim President

Adly Mansour Adly Mahmoud Mansour (, ; born 23 December 1945) is an Egyptian judge and politician who served as the president (or chief justice) of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt. He also served as interim president of Egypt from 4 July 2013 to 8 ...

* Dorreya Sharaf El-Din (July 2013–June 2014) President Abdelfattah al-Sisi (2014 — ) *Osama Heikal (2020–2022, ministry dissolved)

Affiliated agencies

(ERTU) *

(SIS) *

Middle East News Agency The Middle East News Agency (MENA) is a news agency based in Egypt. It is run by the Egyptian government. History and profile The MENA was founded on 15 December 1955 as a joint stock company owned by Egyptian press establishments. The agency, ...

(MENA) *

Egyptian Media Production City Egyptian Media Production City Co SAE (EMPC) is an information and media complex located near Cairo in Egypt. It is listed on the Egyptian Exchange, though most of its shares are owned by the Government of Egypt through the National Media Author ...

(EMPC) *

Nilesat Egyptian Satellites Co SAE or Nilesat (; or , ) is a company and the name of a series of Egyptian communications satellites. It was established in 1996 by the government of Egypt with the purpose of operating Egyptian satellites and their associ ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Information 1971 establishments in Egypt 2021 disestablishments in Egypt Ministries established in 1971 Ministries disestablished in 2021

Information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...

History and profile

List of Egyptian Ministers of Information (incomplete)

Affiliated agencies

See also

References

External links