Egyptian Editor Fired for Election Coverage; Probably Beats Arrest

In an environment where the norm is to arrest editors and journalists who are not sufficiently solicitous toward Egyptian President Abdel Fatteh al-Sisi, Al-Masry Al-Youm editor Mohammad al-Sayyed Saleh should probably consider himself fortunate to have been fired by his CEO. Management was quick to publish an apology after prior to the recent election which Sisi won with 97% of the vote, the paper ran a story about government efforts to stimulate turnout by offering incentives. Although Sisi had scared away all opponents from the race, the degree of turnout remained of great importance as an indication of Sisi’s support among the people. Despite efforts such as those reported by Al-Masry Al-Youm, the president came up short in comparison with his previous electoral victory. The CEO fired Saleh while the state’s chief prosecutor was reviewing the paper’s election coverage.